Public Act 096-0491
 
SB2224 Enrolled LRB096 11427 DRJ 21897 b

    AN ACT concerning aging.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons
Property Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act is
amended by changing Section 5 as follows:
 
    (320 ILCS 25/5)  (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 405)
    Sec. 5. Procedure.
    (a) In general. Claims must be filed after January 1, on
forms prescribed by the Department. No claim may be filed more
than one year after December 31 of the year for which the claim
is filed except that claims for 1976 may be filed until
December 31, 1978. The pharmaceutical assistance
identification card provided for in subsection (f) of Section 4
shall be valid for a period not to exceed one year. On and
after January 1, 2002, however, to enable the Department to
convert coverage for a pharmaceutical assistance program
participant to a State fiscal year basis, a card shall be valid
for a longer or shorter period than 12 months, depending on the
date a timely claim is filed and as determined by the
Department. All applicants for benefits under this program
approved for benefits on or after July 1 but on or before
December 31 of any State fiscal year are eligible for benefits
through June 30 of that State fiscal year. All applicants for
benefits under this program approved for benefits on or after
January 1 but on or before June 30 of any State fiscal year are
eligible for benefits through June 30 of the following State
fiscal year.
    (b) Claim is Personal. The right to file a claim under this
Act shall be personal to the claimant and shall not survive his
death, but such right may be exercised on behalf of a claimant
by his legal guardian or attorney-in-fact. If a claimant dies
after having filed a timely claim, the amount thereof shall be
disbursed to his surviving spouse or, if no spouse survives, to
his surviving dependent minor children in equal parts, provided
the spouse or child, as the case may be, resided with the
claimant at the time he filed his claim. If at the time of
disbursement neither the claimant nor his spouse is surviving,
and no dependent minor children of the claimant are surviving
the amount of the claim shall escheat to the State.
    (c) One claim per household. Only one member of a household
may file a claim under this Act in any calendar year; where
both members of a household are otherwise entitled to claim a
grant under this Act, they must agree as to which of them will
file a claim for that year.
    (d) Content of application form. The form prescribed by the
Department for purposes of paragraph (a) shall include a table,
appropriately keyed to the parts of the form on which the
claimant is required to furnish information, which will enable
the claimant to determine readily the approximate amount of
grant to which he is entitled by relating levels of household
income to property taxes accrued or rent constituting property
taxes accrued.
    (e) Pharmaceutical Assistance Procedures. The Department
shall establish the form and manner for application, and
establish by January 1, 1986 a procedure to enable persons to
apply for the additional grant or for the pharmaceutical
assistance identification card on the same application form.
The Department shall determine eligibility for pharmaceutical
assistance using the applicant's current income. The
Department shall determine a person's current income in the
manner provided by the Department by rule.
    (f) A person may not under any circumstances charge a fee
to a claimant under this Act for assistance in completing an
application form for a property tax relief grant or
pharmaceutical assistance under this Act.
(Source: P.A. 91-533, eff. 8-13-99; 91-699, eff. 1-1-01;
92-131, eff. 7-23-01; 92-519, eff. 1-1-02.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.