Public Act 90-0650 of the 90th General Assembly
Public Act 90-0650
SB1267 Enrolled LRB9008971KDmb
AN ACT to amend the Senior Citizen and Disabled Persons
Property Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act by
changing Section 4.
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 4 as follows:
(320 ILCS 25/4) (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 404)
Sec. 4. Amount of Grant.
(a) In general. Any individual 65 years or older or any
individual who will become 65 years old during the calendar
year in which a claim is filed, and any surviving spouse of
such a claimant, who at the time of death received or was
entitled to receive a grant pursuant to this Section, which
surviving spouse will become 65 years of age within the 24
months immediately following the death of such claimant and
which surviving spouse but for his or her age is otherwise
qualified to receive a grant pursuant to this Section, and
any disabled person whose annual household income is less
than $14,000 for grant years before the 1998 grant year and
less than $16,000 for the 1998 grant year and thereafter and
whose household is liable for payment of property taxes
accrued or has paid rent constituting property taxes accrued
and is domiciled in this State at the time he files his claim
is entitled to claim a grant under this Act. With respect to
claims filed by individuals who will become 65 years old
during the calendar year in which a claim is filed, the
amount of any grant to which that household is entitled shall
be an amount equal to 1/12 of the amount to which the
claimant would otherwise be entitled as provided in this
Section, multiplied by the number of months in which the
claimant was 65 in the calendar year in which the claim is
filed.
(b) Limitation. Except as otherwise provided in
subsections (a) and (f) of this Section, the maximum amount
of grant which a claimant is entitled to claim is the amount
by which the property taxes accrued which were paid or
payable during the last preceding tax year or rent
constituting property taxes accrued upon the claimant's
residence for the last preceding taxable year exceeds 3 1/2%
of the claimant's household income for that year but in no
event is the grant to exceed (i) $700 less 4.5% of household
income for that year for those with a household income of
$14,000 or less or (ii) $70 if household income for that year
is more than $14,000 but less than $16,000.
(c) Public aid recipients. If household income in one
or more months during a year includes cash assistance in
excess of $55 per month from the Department of Public Aid or
the Department of Human Services (acting as successor to the
Department of Public Aid under the Department of Human
Services Act) which was determined under regulations of that
Department on a measure of need that included an allowance
for actual rent or property taxes paid by the recipient of
that assistance, the amount of grant to which that household
is entitled, except as otherwise provided in subsection (a),
shall be the product of (1) the maximum amount computed as
specified in subsection (b) of this Section and (2) the ratio
of the number of months in which household income did not
include such cash assistance over $55 to the number twelve.
If household income did not include such cash assistance over
$55 for any months during the year, the amount of the grant
to which the household is entitled shall be the maximum
amount computed as specified in subsection (b) of this
Section. For purposes of this paragraph (c), "cash
assistance" does not include any amount received under the
federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.
(d) Joint ownership. If title to the residence is held
jointly by the claimant with a person who is not a member of
his household, the amount of property taxes accrued used in
computing the amount of grant to which he is entitled shall
be the same percentage of property taxes accrued as is the
percentage of ownership held by the claimant in the
residence.
(e) More than one residence. If a claimant has occupied
more than one residence in the taxable year, he may claim
only one residence for any part of a month. In the case of
property taxes accrued, he shall pro rate 1/12 of the total
property taxes accrued on his residence to each month that he
owned and occupied that residence; and, in the case of rent
constituting property taxes accrued, shall pro rate each
month's rent payments to the residence actually occupied
during that month.
(f) There is hereby established a program of
pharmaceutical assistance to the aged and disabled which
shall be administered by the Department in accordance with
this Act, to consist of payments to authorized pharmacies, on
behalf of beneficiaries of the program, for the reasonable
costs of covered prescription drugs. Each beneficiary who
pays $40 for an identification card shall pay the first $15
of prescription costs each month. Each beneficiary who pays
$80 for an identification card shall pay the first $25 of
prescription costs each month. In addition, after a
beneficiary receives $800 in benefits during a State fiscal
year, that beneficiary shall also be charged 20% of the cost
of each prescription for which payments are made by the
program during the remainder of the fiscal year. To become a
beneficiary under this program a person must be: (1) (i) 65
years or older, or (ii) the surviving spouse of such a
claimant, who at the time of death received or was entitled
to receive benefits pursuant to this subsection, which
surviving spouse will become 65 years of age within the 24
months immediately following the death of such claimant and
which surviving spouse but for his or her age is otherwise
qualified to receive benefits pursuant to this subsection, or
(iii) disabled, and (2) is domiciled in this State at the
time he files his or her claim, and (3) has a maximum
household income of less than $14,000 for grant years before
the 1998 grant year and less than $16,000 for the 1998 grant
year and thereafter. In addition, each eligible person must
(1) obtain an identification card from the Department, (2) at
the time the card is obtained, sign a statement assigning to
the State of Illinois benefits which may be otherwise claimed
under any private insurance plans, (3) present the
identification card to the dispensing pharmacist.
Any person otherwise eligible for pharmaceutical
assistance under this Act whose covered drugs are covered by
any public program for assistance in purchasing any covered
prescription drugs shall be ineligible for assistance under
this Act to the extent such costs are covered by such other
plan.
The fee to be charged by the Department for the
identification card shall be equal to $40 for persons below
the official poverty line as defined by the United States
Department of Health and Human Services and $80 for all other
persons.
In the event that 2 or more persons are eligible for any
benefit under this Act, and are members of the same
household, (1) each such person shall be entitled to
participate in the pharmaceutical assistance program,
provided that he or she meets all other requirements imposed
by this subsection and (2) each participating household
member contributes the fee required for that person by the
preceding paragraph for the purpose of obtaining an
identification card. Persons eligible for any benefit under
this Act due to become 65 in calendar year 1984 or any
subsequent calendar year in which a claim is filed are
excluded from the benefit prescribed in this subsection (g)
for the calendar year in which they become 65.
(Source: P.A. 88-45; 89-507, eff. 7-1-97.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.