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91_HB2993ham001
LRB9109298DJcdam02
1 AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2993
2 AMENDMENT NO. . Amend House Bill 2993 by replacing
3 the title with the following:
4 "AN ACT in relation to senior citizens."; and
5 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
6 following:
7 "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
8 Tobacco Settlement Proceeds for Seniors' Health Care Act.
9 Section 5. Use of proceeds for seniors' health. Because
10 senior citizens age 60 and over comprise the population most
11 seriously harmed by the effects of smoking, not less than 25%
12 of the amounts distributed by the State from tobacco
13 settlement proceeds shall be dedicated to improving the
14 health of senior citizens in Illinois. These moneys shall be
15 used to expand community-based services and other programs
16 for senior citizens throughout the State who suffer from the
17 effects of smoking. These services may include, but need not
18 be limited to, the following:
19 (1) Home-delivered meals.
20 (2) Transportation to and from health care
21 services.
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1 (3) Home health services.
2 (4) In-home respite care.
3 (5) Pharmaceutical assistance.
4 (6) Smoking cessation campaigns through senior
5 centers, senior nutrition programs, and case
6 coordination units.
7 Section 90. The Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons
8 Property Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act is
9 amended by changing Sections 3.15 and 4 as follows:
10 (320 ILCS 25/3.15) (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 403.15)
11 Sec. 3.15. "Covered prescription drug" means (1) any
12 cardiovascular agent or drug; (2) any insulin or other
13 prescription drug used in the treatment of diabetes,
14 including syringe and needles used to administer the insulin;
15 and (3) any prescription drug used in the treatment of
16 arthritis; and (4) any prescription drug used in the
17 treatment of pulmonary disease or respiratory diseases, or
18 both. The specific agents or products to be included under
19 such categories shall be listed in a handbook to be prepared
20 and distributed by the Department. The general types of
21 covered prescription drugs shall be indicated by rule.
22 (Source: P.A. 85-1176.)
23 (320 ILCS 25/4) (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 404)
24 Sec. 4. Amount of Grant.
25 (a) In general. Any individual 65 years or older or any
26 individual who will become 65 years old during the calendar
27 year in which a claim is filed, and any surviving spouse of
28 such a claimant, who at the time of death received or was
29 entitled to receive a grant pursuant to this Section, which
30 surviving spouse will become 65 years of age within the 24
31 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 a grant pursuant to this Section, and
3 any disabled person whose annual household income is less
4 than $14,000 for grant years before the 1998 grant year and
5 less than $16,000 for the 1998 grant year and thereafter and
6 whose household is liable for payment of property taxes
7 accrued or has paid rent constituting property taxes accrued
8 and is domiciled in this State at the time he files his claim
9 is entitled to claim a grant under this Act. With respect to
10 claims filed by individuals who will become 65 years old
11 during the calendar year in which a claim is filed, the
12 amount of any grant to which that household is entitled shall
13 be an amount equal to 1/12 of the amount to which the
14 claimant would otherwise be entitled as provided in this
15 Section, multiplied by the number of months in which the
16 claimant was 65 in the calendar year in which the claim is
17 filed.
18 (b) Limitation. Except as otherwise provided in
19 subsections (a) and (f) of this Section, the maximum amount
20 of grant which a claimant is entitled to claim is the amount
21 by which the property taxes accrued which were paid or
22 payable during the last preceding tax year or rent
23 constituting property taxes accrued upon the claimant's
24 residence for the last preceding taxable year exceeds 3 1/2%
25 of the claimant's household income for that year but in no
26 event is the grant to exceed (i) $700 less 4.5% of household
27 income for that year for those with a household income of
28 $14,000 or less or (ii) $70 if household income for that year
29 is more than $14,000 but less than $16,000.
30 (c) Public aid recipients. If household income in one
31 or more months during a year includes cash assistance in
32 excess of $55 per month from the Department of Public Aid or
33 the Department of Human Services (acting as successor to the
34 Department of Public Aid under the Department of Human
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1 Services Act) which was determined under regulations of that
2 Department on a measure of need that included an allowance
3 for actual rent or property taxes paid by the recipient of
4 that assistance, the amount of grant to which that household
5 is entitled, except as otherwise provided in subsection (a),
6 shall be the product of (1) the maximum amount computed as
7 specified in subsection (b) of this Section and (2) the ratio
8 of the number of months in which household income did not
9 include such cash assistance over $55 to the number twelve.
10 If household income did not include such cash assistance over
11 $55 for any months during the year, the amount of the grant
12 to which the household is entitled shall be the maximum
13 amount computed as specified in subsection (b) of this
14 Section. For purposes of this paragraph (c), "cash
15 assistance" does not include any amount received under the
16 federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.
17 (d) Joint ownership. If title to the residence is held
18 jointly by the claimant with a person who is not a member of
19 his household, the amount of property taxes accrued used in
20 computing the amount of grant to which he is entitled shall
21 be the same percentage of property taxes accrued as is the
22 percentage of ownership held by the claimant in the
23 residence.
24 (e) More than one residence. If a claimant has occupied
25 more than one residence in the taxable year, he may claim
26 only one residence for any part of a month. In the case of
27 property taxes accrued, he shall pro rate 1/12 of the total
28 property taxes accrued on his residence to each month that he
29 owned and occupied that residence; and, in the case of rent
30 constituting property taxes accrued, shall pro rate each
31 month's rent payments to the residence actually occupied
32 during that month.
33 (f) There is hereby established a program of
34 pharmaceutical assistance to the aged and disabled which
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1 shall be administered by the Department in accordance with
2 this Act, to consist of payments to authorized pharmacies, on
3 behalf of beneficiaries of the program, for the reasonable
4 costs of covered prescription drugs. Each beneficiary who
5 pays $40 for an identification card shall pay the first $15
6 of prescription costs each month. Each beneficiary who pays
7 $80 for an identification card shall pay the first $25 of
8 prescription costs each month. In addition, after a
9 beneficiary receives $800 in benefits during a State fiscal
10 year, that beneficiary shall also be charged 20% of the cost
11 of each prescription for which payments are made by the
12 program during the remainder of the fiscal year. To become a
13 beneficiary under this program a person must be: (1) (i) 65
14 years or older, or (ii) the surviving spouse of such a
15 claimant, who at the time of death received or was entitled
16 to receive benefits pursuant to this subsection, which
17 surviving spouse will become 65 years of age within the 24
18 months immediately following the death of such claimant and
19 which surviving spouse but for his or her age is otherwise
20 qualified to receive benefits pursuant to this subsection, or
21 (iii) disabled, and (2) is domiciled in this State at the
22 time he files his or her claim, and (3) has a maximum
23 household income of less than $14,000 for grant years before
24 the 1998 grant year, and less than $16,000 for the 1998 and
25 1999 grant years, and less than $25,000 for the 2000 grant
26 year and thereafter. In addition, each eligible person must
27 (1) obtain an identification card from the Department, (2) at
28 the time the card is obtained, sign a statement assigning to
29 the State of Illinois benefits which may be otherwise claimed
30 under any private insurance plans, (3) present the
31 identification card to the dispensing pharmacist.
32 Any person otherwise eligible for pharmaceutical
33 assistance under this Act whose covered drugs are covered by
34 any public program for assistance in purchasing any covered
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1 prescription drugs shall be ineligible for assistance under
2 this Act to the extent such costs are covered by such other
3 plan.
4 The fee to be charged by the Department for the
5 identification card shall be equal to $40 for persons below
6 the official poverty line as defined by the United States
7 Department of Health and Human Services and $80 for all other
8 persons.
9 In the event that 2 or more persons are eligible for any
10 benefit under this Act, and are members of the same
11 household, (1) each such person shall be entitled to
12 participate in the pharmaceutical assistance program,
13 provided that he or she meets all other requirements imposed
14 by this subsection and (2) each participating household
15 member contributes the fee required for that person by the
16 preceding paragraph for the purpose of obtaining an
17 identification card. Persons eligible for any benefit under
18 this Act due to become 65 in calendar year 1984 or any
19 subsequent calendar year in which a claim is filed are
20 excluded from the benefit prescribed in this subsection (f)
21 for the calendar year in which they become 65.
22 (Source: P.A. 90-650, eff. 7-27-98; 91-357, eff. 7-29-99.)
23 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
24 becoming law.".