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92_HB0005 LRB9201217SMdv 1 AN ACT to amend the Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons 2 Property Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act by 3 changing Sections 3.15 and 4 and by adding Sections 3.18 and 4 3.19. 5 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 6 represented in the General Assembly: 7 Section 5. The Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons 8 Property Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act is 9 amended by changing Sections 3.15 and 4 and by adding 10 Sections 3.18 and 3.19 as follows: 11 (320 ILCS 25/3.15) (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 403.15) 12 Sec. 3.15. "Covered prescription drug" means (1) any 13 cardiovascular agent or drug; (2) any insulin or other 14 prescription drug used in the treatment of diabetes, 15 including syringe and needles used to administer the insulin; 16 (3) any prescription drug used in the treatment of arthritis, 17 (4) beginning on January 1, 2001, any prescription drug used 18 in the treatment of cancer, (5) beginning on January 1, 2001, 19 any prescription drug used in the treatment of Alzheimer's 20 disease, (6) beginning on January 1, 2001, any prescription 21 drug used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease, (7) 22 beginning on January 1, 2001, any prescription drug used in 23 the treatment of glaucoma,and(8) beginning on January 1, 24 2001, any prescription drug used in the treatment of lung 25 disease and smoking related illnesses, and (9) beginning on 26 January 1, 2002, any prescription drug used in the treatment 27 of osteoporosis. The specific agents or products to be 28 included under such categories shall be listed in a handbook 29 to be prepared and distributed by the Department. The 30 general types of covered prescription drugs shall be 31 indicated by rule. The Department of Public Health shall -2- LRB9201217SMdv 1 promulgate a list of covered prescription drugs under this 2 program that meet the definition of a narrow therapeutic 3 index drug as described in subsection (f) of Section 4. 4 (Source: P.A. 91-699, eff. 1-1-01.) 5 (320 ILCS 25/3.18 new) 6 Sec. 3.18. Drug used in the treatment of. "Drug used in 7 the treatment of" means (i) a drug used to treat a specified 8 disease or illness or secondary conditions caused by the 9 disease or illness and (ii) a drug used to treat side effects 10 resulting from the use of a drug used to treat the disease or 11 illness. 12 (320 ILCS 25/3.19 new) 13 Sec. 3.19. Disease. "Disease" means a chronic and 14 possibly recurrent illness of long duration, as distinguished 15 from an acute illness that is of short duration with recovery 16 due to limited medical treatment. "Disease" also includes 17 pneumonia, bronchitis, or other similar illnesses. 18 (320 ILCS 25/4) (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 404) 19 Sec. 4. Amount of Grant. 20 (a) In general. Any individual 65 years or older or any 21 individual who will become 65 years old during the calendar 22 year in which a claim is filed, and any surviving spouse of 23 such a claimant, who at the time of death received or was 24 entitled to receive a grant pursuant to this Section, which 25 surviving spouse will become 65 years of age within the 24 26 months immediately following the death of such claimant and 27 which surviving spouse but for his or her age is otherwise 28 qualified to receive a grant pursuant to this Section, and 29 any disabled person whose annual household income is less 30 than $14,000 for grant years before the 1998 grant year, less 31 than $16,000 for the 1998 and 1999 grant years,andless than -3- LRB9201217SMdv 1 (i) $21,218 for a household containing one person, (ii) 2 $28,480 for a household containing 2 persons, or (iii) 3 $35,740 for a household containing 3 or more persons for the 4 2000 grant year, and less than (i) 28,000 for a household 5 containing one person, (ii) $35,000 for a household 6 containing 2 persons, or (iii) $42,000 for a household 7 containing 3 or more persons for the 2001 grant year and 8 thereafter and whose household is liable for payment of 9 property taxes accrued or has paid rent constituting property 10 taxes accrued and is domiciled in this State at the time he 11 files his claim is entitled to claim a grant under this Act. 12 With respect to claims filed by individuals who will become 13 65 years old during the calendar year in which a claim is 14 filed, the amount of any grant to which that household is 15 entitled shall be an amount equal to 1/12 of the amount to 16 which the claimant would otherwise be entitled as provided in 17 this Section, multiplied by the number of months in which the 18 claimant was 65 in the calendar year in which the claim is 19 filed. 20 (b) Limitation. Except as otherwise provided in 21 subsections (a) and (f) of this Section, the maximum amount 22 of grant which a claimant is entitled to claim is the amount 23 by which the property taxes accrued which were paid or 24 payable during the last preceding tax year or rent 25 constituting property taxes accrued upon the claimant's 26 residence for the last preceding taxable year exceeds 3 1/2% 27 of the claimant's household income for that year but in no 28 event is the grant to exceed (i) $700 less 4.5% of household 29 income for that year for those with a household income of 30 $14,000 or less or (ii) $70 if household income for that year 31 is more than $14,000. 32 (c) Public aid recipients. If household income in one 33 or more months during a year includes cash assistance in 34 excess of $55 per month from the Department of Public Aid or -4- LRB9201217SMdv 1 the Department of Human Services (acting as successor to the 2 Department of Public Aid under the Department of Human 3 Services Act) which was determined under regulations of that 4 Department on a measure of need that included an allowance 5 for actual rent or property taxes paid by the recipient of 6 that assistance, the amount of grant to which that household 7 is entitled, except as otherwise provided in subsection (a), 8 shall be the product of (1) the maximum amount computed as 9 specified in subsection (b) of this Section and (2) the ratio 10 of the number of months in which household income did not 11 include such cash assistance over $55 to the number twelve. 12 If household income did not include such cash assistance over 13 $55 for any months during the year, the amount of the grant 14 to which the household is entitled shall be the maximum 15 amount computed as specified in subsection (b) of this 16 Section. For purposes of this paragraph (c), "cash 17 assistance" does not include any amount received under the 18 federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. 19 (d) Joint ownership. If title to the residence is held 20 jointly by the claimant with a person who is not a member of 21 his household, the amount of property taxes accrued used in 22 computing the amount of grant to which he is entitled shall 23 be the same percentage of property taxes accrued as is the 24 percentage of ownership held by the claimant in the 25 residence. 26 (e) More than one residence. If a claimant has occupied 27 more than one residence in the taxable year, he may claim 28 only one residence for any part of a month. In the case of 29 property taxes accrued, he shall pro rate 1/12 of the total 30 property taxes accrued on his residence to each month that he 31 owned and occupied that residence; and, in the case of rent 32 constituting property taxes accrued, shall pro rate each 33 month's rent payments to the residence actually occupied 34 during that month. -5- LRB9201217SMdv 1 (f) There is hereby established a program of 2 pharmaceutical assistance to the aged and disabled which 3 shall be administered by the Department in accordance with 4 this Act, to consist of payments to authorized pharmacies, on 5 behalf of beneficiaries of the program, for the reasonable 6 costs of covered prescription drugs. Each beneficiary who 7 pays $5 for an identification card shall pay no additional 8 prescription costs. Each beneficiary who pays $25 for an 9 identification card shall pay $3 per prescription. In 10 addition, after a beneficiary receives $2,000 in benefits 11 during a State fiscal year through December 31, 2001 and, on 12 and after January 1, 2002, after a beneficiary receives 13 $2,000 in benefits during a calendar year, that beneficiary 14 shall also be charged 20% of the cost of each prescription 15 for which payments are made by the program during the 16 remainder of the fiscal year through December 31, 2001 and, 17 on and after January 1, 2002, during the remainder of the 18 calendar year. To become a beneficiary under this program a 19 person must be: (1) (i) 65 years or older, or (ii) the 20 surviving spouse of such a claimant, who at the time of death 21 received or was entitled to receive benefits pursuant to this 22 subsection, which surviving spouse will become 65 years of 23 age within the 24 months immediately following the death of 24 such claimant and which surviving spouse but for his or her 25 age is otherwise qualified to receive benefits pursuant to 26 this subsection, or (iii) disabled, and (2) is domiciled in 27 this State at the time he files his or her claim, and (3) has 28 a maximum household income of less than $14,000 for grant 29 years before the 1998 grant year, less than $16,000 for the 30 1998 and 1999 grant years,andless than (i) $21,218 for a 31 household containing one person, (ii) $28,480 for a household 32 containing 2 persons, or (iii) $35,740 for a household 33 containing 3 more persons for the 2000 grant year, and less 34 than (i) 28,000 for a household containing one person, (ii) -6- LRB9201217SMdv 1 $35,000 for a household containing 2 persons, or (iii) 2 $42,000 for a household containing 3 or more persons for the 3 2001 grant year and thereafter. In addition, each eligible 4 person must (1) obtain an identification card from the 5 Department, (2) at the time the card is obtained, sign a 6 statement assigning to the State of Illinois benefits which 7 may be otherwise claimed under any private insurance plans, 8 (3) present the identification card to the dispensing 9 pharmacist. 10 Whenever a generic equivalent for a covered prescription 11 drug is available, the Department shall reimburse only for 12 the reasonable costs of the generic equivalent, less the 13 co-pay established in this Section, unless (i) the covered 14 prescription drug contains one or more ingredients defined as 15 a narrow therapeutic index drug at 21 CFR 320.33, (ii) the 16 prescriber indicates on the face of the prescription "brand 17 medically necessary", and (iii) the prescriber specifies that 18 a substitution is not permitted. When issuing an oral 19 prescription for covered prescription medication described in 20 item (i) of this paragraph, the prescriber shall stipulate 21 "brand medically necessary" and that a substitution is not 22 permitted. If the covered prescription drug and its 23 authorizing prescription do not meet the criteria listed 24 above, the beneficiary may purchase the non-generic 25 equivalent of the covered prescription drug by paying the 26 difference between the generic cost and the non-generic cost 27 plus the beneficiary co-pay. 28 Any person otherwise eligible for pharmaceutical 29 assistance under this Act whose covered drugs are covered by 30 any public program for assistance in purchasing any covered 31 prescription drugs shall be ineligible for assistance under 32 this Act to the extent such costs are covered by such other 33 plan. 34 The fee to be charged by the Department for the -7- LRB9201217SMdv 1 identification card shall be equal to $5 per coverage year 2 for persons below the official poverty line as defined by the 3 United States Department of Health and Human Services and $25 4 per coverage year for all other persons. On and before 5 December 31, 2001, coverage under this pharmaceutical 6 assistance program shall begin on the date of application 7 approval and be in effect for 12 months. On and after January 8 1, 2002, coverage under this pharmaceutical assistance 9 program shall be in effect on a calendar year basis. 10 In the event that 2 or more persons are eligible for any 11 benefit under this Act, and are members of the same 12 household, (1) each such person shall be entitled to 13 participate in the pharmaceutical assistance program, 14 provided that he or she meets all other requirements imposed 15 by this subsection and (2) each participating household 16 member contributes the fee required for that person by the 17 preceding paragraph for the purpose of obtaining an 18 identification card. 19 (Source: P.A. 90-650, eff. 7-27-98; 91-357, eff. 7-29-99; 20 91-699, eff. 1-1-01.) 21 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 22 becoming law.