Public Act 93-0130
HB0784 Enrolled LRB093 05320 DRJ 05410 b
AN ACT concerning assistance to citizens.
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, less
than $16,000 for the 1998 and 1999 grant years, and less than
(i) $21,218 for a household containing one person, (ii)
$28,480 for a household containing 2 persons, or (iii)
$35,740 for a household containing 3 or more persons for the
2000 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 or she files his or her 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.
(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 or her household, the amount of property taxes accrued
used in computing the amount of grant to which he or she 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 or she may
claim only one residence for any part of a month. In the
case of property taxes accrued, he or she shall prorate 1/12
of the total property taxes accrued on his or her residence
to each month that he or she owned and occupied that
residence; and, in the case of rent constituting property
taxes accrued, shall prorate 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 $5 for an identification card shall pay no additional
prescription costs. Each beneficiary who pays $25 for an
identification card shall pay $3 per prescription. In
addition, after a beneficiary receives $2,000 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: (1) be (i) 65 years of age 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) be domiciled in
this State at the time he or she files his or her claim, and
(3) have a maximum household income of less than $14,000 for
grant years before the 1998 grant year, less than $16,000 for
the 1998 and 1999 grant years, and less than (i) $21,218 for
a household containing one person, (ii) $28,480 for a
household containing 2 persons, or (iii) $35,740 for a
household containing 3 more persons for the 2000 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, and (3) present the
identification card to the dispensing pharmacist.
The Department may adopt rules specifying participation
requirements for the pharmaceutical assistance program,
including copayment amounts, identification card fees,
expenditure limits, and the benefit threshold after which a
20% charge is imposed on the cost of each prescription, to be
in effect on and after July 1, 2004. Notwithstanding any
other provision of this paragraph, however, the Department
may not increase the identification card fee above the amount
in effect on May 1, 2003 without the express consent of the
General Assembly. To the extent practicable, those
requirements shall be commensurate with the requirements
provided in rules adopted by the Department of Public Aid to
implement the pharmacy assistance program under Section
5-5.12a of the Illinois Public Aid Code.
Whenever a generic equivalent for a covered prescription
drug is available, the Department shall reimburse only for
the reasonable costs of the generic equivalent, less the
co-pay established in this Section, unless (i) the covered
prescription drug contains one or more ingredients defined as
a narrow therapeutic index drug at 21 CFR 320.33, (ii) the
prescriber indicates on the face of the prescription "brand
medically necessary", and (iii) the prescriber specifies that
a substitution is not permitted. When issuing an oral
prescription for covered prescription medication described in
item (i) of this paragraph, the prescriber shall stipulate
"brand medically necessary" and that a substitution is not
permitted. If the covered prescription drug and its
authorizing prescription do not meet the criteria listed
above, the beneficiary may purchase the non-generic
equivalent of the covered prescription drug by paying the
difference between the generic cost and the non-generic cost
plus the beneficiary co-pay.
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 $5 per coverage year
for persons below the official poverty line as defined by the
United States Department of Health and Human Services and $25
per coverage year 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.
(Source: P.A. 91-357, eff. 7-29-99; 91-699, eff. 1-1-01;
92-131, eff. 7-23-01; 92-519, eff. 1-1-02; 92-651, eff.
7-11-02.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.