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91_HB1847
LRB9102758SMdv
1 AN ACT to amend the Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons
2 Property Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act by
3 changing the title and Sections 1 and 4.
4 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
5 represented in the General Assembly:
6 Section 5. The Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons
7 Property Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act is
8 amended by changing the title and Sections 1 and 4 as
9 follows:
10 (320 ILCS 25/Act title)
11 An Act in relation to the payment of grants to enable the
12 elderly and the disabled to acquire or retain private housing
13 and to enable certain persons to acquire prescription drugs.
14 (320 ILCS 25/1) (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 401)
15 Sec. 1. Short title. This Article shall be known and may
16 be cited as the "Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons
17 Property Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act". As
18 used in this Article, "this Act" means this Article.
19 (Source: P.A. 83-1531.)
20 (320 ILCS 25/3.15) (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 403.15)
21 Sec. 3.15. "Covered prescription drug" means (1) any
22 cardiovascular agent or drug; (2) any insulin or other
23 prescription drug used in the treatment of diabetes,
24 including syringe and needles used to administer the insulin;
25 and (3) any prescription drug used in the treatment of
26 arthritis; (4) any prescription drug used in the treatment of
27 Alzheimer's disease; (5) any prescription drug used in the
28 treatment of asthma; (6) any prescription drug used in the
29 treatment of Parkinson's disease; and (7) any prescription
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1 drug used in the treatment of cancer. The specific agents or
2 products to be included under such categories shall be listed
3 in a handbook to be prepared and distributed by the
4 Department. The general types of covered prescription drugs
5 shall be indicated by rule.
6 (Source: P.A. 85-1176.)
7 (320 ILCS 25/4) (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 404)
8 Sec. 4. Amount of Grant.
9 (a) In general. Any individual 65 years or older or any
10 individual who will become 65 years old during the calendar
11 year in which a claim is filed, and any surviving spouse of
12 such a claimant, who at the time of death received or was
13 entitled to receive a grant pursuant to this Section, which
14 surviving spouse will become 65 years of age within the 24
15 months immediately following the death of such claimant and
16 which surviving spouse but for his or her age is otherwise
17 qualified to receive a grant pursuant to this Section, and
18 any disabled person whose annual household income is less
19 than $14,000 for grant years before the 1998 grant year and
20 less than $16,000 for the 1998 grant year and thereafter and
21 whose household is liable for payment of property taxes
22 accrued or has paid rent constituting property taxes accrued
23 and is domiciled in this State at the time he files his claim
24 is entitled to claim a grant under this Act. With respect to
25 claims filed by individuals who will become 65 years old
26 during the calendar year in which a claim is filed, the
27 amount of any grant to which that household is entitled shall
28 be an amount equal to 1/12 of the amount to which the
29 claimant would otherwise be entitled as provided in this
30 Section, multiplied by the number of months in which the
31 claimant was 65 in the calendar year in which the claim is
32 filed.
33 (b) Limitation. Except as otherwise provided in
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1 subsections (a) and (f) of this Section, the maximum amount
2 of grant which a claimant is entitled to claim is the amount
3 by which the property taxes accrued which were paid or
4 payable during the last preceding tax year or rent
5 constituting property taxes accrued upon the claimant's
6 residence for the last preceding taxable year exceeds 3 1/2%
7 of the claimant's household income for that year but in no
8 event is the grant to exceed (i) $700 less 4.5% of household
9 income for that year for those with a household income of
10 $14,000 or less or (ii) $70 if household income for that year
11 is more than $14,000 but less than $16,000.
12 (c) Public aid recipients. If household income in one
13 or more months during a year includes cash assistance in
14 excess of $55 per month from the Department of Public Aid or
15 the Department of Human Services (acting as successor to the
16 Department of Public Aid under the Department of Human
17 Services Act) which was determined under regulations of that
18 Department on a measure of need that included an allowance
19 for actual rent or property taxes paid by the recipient of
20 that assistance, the amount of grant to which that household
21 is entitled, except as otherwise provided in subsection (a),
22 shall be the product of (1) the maximum amount computed as
23 specified in subsection (b) of this Section and (2) the ratio
24 of the number of months in which household income did not
25 include such cash assistance over $55 to the number twelve.
26 If household income did not include such cash assistance over
27 $55 for any months during the year, the amount of the grant
28 to which the household is entitled shall be the maximum
29 amount computed as specified in subsection (b) of this
30 Section. For purposes of this paragraph (c), "cash
31 assistance" does not include any amount received under the
32 federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.
33 (d) Joint ownership. If title to the residence is held
34 jointly by the claimant with a person who is not a member of
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1 his household, the amount of property taxes accrued used in
2 computing the amount of grant to which he is entitled shall
3 be the same percentage of property taxes accrued as is the
4 percentage of ownership held by the claimant in the
5 residence.
6 (e) More than one residence. If a claimant has occupied
7 more than one residence in the taxable year, he may claim
8 only one residence for any part of a month. In the case of
9 property taxes accrued, he shall pro rate 1/12 of the total
10 property taxes accrued on his residence to each month that he
11 owned and occupied that residence; and, in the case of rent
12 constituting property taxes accrued, shall pro rate each
13 month's rent payments to the residence actually occupied
14 during that month.
15 (f) There is hereby established a program of
16 pharmaceutical assistance to the aged and disabled which
17 shall be administered by the Department in accordance with
18 this Act, to consist of payments to authorized pharmacies, on
19 behalf of beneficiaries of the program, for the reasonable
20 costs of covered prescription drugs. Each beneficiary who
21 pays $40 for an identification card shall pay the first $15
22 of prescription costs each month. Each beneficiary who pays
23 $80 for an identification card shall pay the first $25 of
24 prescription costs each month. In addition, after a
25 beneficiary receives $800 in benefits during a State fiscal
26 year, that beneficiary shall also be charged 20% of the cost
27 of each prescription for which payments are made by the
28 program during the remainder of the fiscal year. To become a
29 beneficiary under this program a person must be: (1) (i) 65
30 years or older, or (ii) the surviving spouse of such a
31 claimant, who at the time of death received or was entitled
32 to receive benefits pursuant to this subsection, which
33 surviving spouse will become 65 years of age within the 24
34 months immediately following the death of such claimant and
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1 which surviving spouse but for his or her age is otherwise
2 qualified to receive benefits pursuant to this subsection, or
3 (iii) disabled, and (2) is domiciled in this State at the
4 time he files his or her claim, and (3) has a maximum
5 household income of less than $14,000 for grant years before
6 the 1998 grant year and less than $16,000 for the 1998 grant
7 year and thereafter. A person who does not meet the
8 requirements to become a beneficiary under the pharmaceutical
9 assistance program under provisions (1) or (3) of the
10 requirements to become a beneficiary stated above (regarding
11 age and income) but who meets the requirements of provision
12 (2) (regarding domicile) is eligible to become a beneficiary
13 if that person suffers from Alzheimer's disease, asthma,
14 Parkinson's disease, or cancer. A person who does not meet
15 the requirements to become a beneficiary under the
16 pharmaceutical assistance program under provision (1) of the
17 requirements to become a beneficiary stated above (regarding
18 age) but who meets the requirements of provisions (2) and (3)
19 (regarding domicile and income) is eligible to become a
20 beneficiary if that person is a veteran of the United States
21 armed forces. In addition, each eligible person must (1)
22 obtain an identification card from the Department, (2) at the
23 time the card is obtained, sign a statement assigning to the
24 State of Illinois benefits which may be otherwise claimed
25 under any private insurance plans, (3) present the
26 identification card to the dispensing pharmacist.
27 Any person otherwise eligible for pharmaceutical
28 assistance under this Act whose covered drugs are covered by
29 any public program for assistance in purchasing any covered
30 prescription drugs shall be ineligible for assistance under
31 this Act to the extent such costs are covered by such other
32 plan.
33 The fee to be charged by the Department for the
34 identification card shall be equal to $40 for persons below
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1 the official poverty line as defined by the United States
2 Department of Health and Human Services and $80 for all other
3 persons.
4 In the event that 2 or more persons are eligible for any
5 benefit under this Act, and are members of the same
6 household, (1) each such person shall be entitled to
7 participate in the pharmaceutical assistance program,
8 provided that he or she meets all other requirements imposed
9 by this subsection and (2) each participating household
10 member contributes the fee required for that person by the
11 preceding paragraph for the purpose of obtaining an
12 identification card. Persons eligible for any benefit under
13 this Act due to become 65 in calendar year 1984 or any
14 subsequent calendar year in which a claim is filed are
15 excluded from the benefit prescribed in this subsection (f)
16 (g) for the calendar year in which they become 65.
17 (Source: P.A. 89-507, eff. 7-1-97; 90-650, eff. 7-27-98;
18 revised 11-18-98.)