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92_HB2438 LRB9207067ACcdA 1 AN ACT concerning taxation. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 5. The Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons 5 Property Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act is 6 amended by changing Section 4 as follows: 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, less 20 than $16,000 for the 1998 and 1999 grant years, and less than 21 (i) $21,218 for a household containing one person, (ii) 22 $28,480 for a household containing 2 persons, or (iii) 23 $35,740 for a household containing 3 or more persons for the 24 2000 grant year and thereafter and whose household is liable 25 for payment of property taxes accrued or has paid rent 26 constituting property taxes accrued and is domiciled in this 27 State at the time he files his claim is entitled to claim a 28 grant under this Act. With respect to claims filed by 29 individuals who will become 65 years old during the calendar 30 year in which a claim is filed, the amount of any grant to 31 which that household is entitled shall be an amount equal to -2- LRB9207067ACcdA 1 1/12 of the amount to which the claimant would otherwise be 2 entitled as provided in this Section, multiplied by the 3 number of months in which the claimant was 65 in the calendar 4 year in which the claim is filed. 5 (b) Limitation. Except as otherwise provided in 6 subsections (a) and (f) of this Section, the maximum amount 7 of grant which a claimant is entitled to claim is the amount 8 by which the property taxes accrued which were paid or 9 payable during the last preceding tax year or rent 10 constituting property taxes accrued upon the claimant's 11 residence for the last preceding taxable year exceeds 3 1/2% 12 of the claimant's household income for that year but in no 13 event is the grant to exceed (i) $700 less 4.5% of household 14 income for that year for those with a household income of 15 $14,000 or less or (ii) $70 if household income for that year 16 is more than $14,000. 17 (c) Public aid recipients. If household income in one 18 or more months during a year includes cash assistance in 19 excess of $55 per month from the Department of Public Aid or 20 the Department of Human Services (acting as successor to the 21 Department of Public Aid under the Department of Human 22 Services Act) which was determined under regulations of that 23 Department on a measure of need that included an allowance 24 for actual rent or property taxes paid by the recipient of 25 that assistance, the amount of grant to which that household 26 is entitled, except as otherwise provided in subsection (a), 27 shall be the product of (1) the maximum amount computed as 28 specified in subsection (b) of this Section and (2) the ratio 29 of the number of months in which household income did not 30 include such cash assistance over $55 to the number twelve. 31 If household income did not include such cash assistance over 32 $55 for any months during the year, the amount of the grant 33 to which the household is entitled shall be the maximum 34 amount computed as specified in subsection (b) of this -3- LRB9207067ACcdA 1 Section. For purposes of this paragraph (c), "cash 2 assistance" does not include any amount received under the 3 federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. 4 (d) Joint ownership. If title to the residence is held 5 jointly by the claimant with a person who is not a member of 6 his household, the amount of property taxes accrued used in 7 computing the amount of grant to which he is entitled shall 8 be the same percentage of property taxes accrued as is the 9 percentage of ownership held by the claimant in the 10 residence. 11 (e) More than one residence. If a claimant has occupied 12 more than one residence in the taxable year, he may claim 13 only one residence for any part of a month. In the case of 14 property taxes accrued, he shall pro rate 1/12 of the total 15 property taxes accrued on his residence to each month that he 16 owned and occupied that residence; and, in the case of rent 17 constituting property taxes accrued, shall pro rate each 18 month's rent payments to the residence actually occupied 19 during that month. 20 (f) There is hereby established a program of 21 pharmaceutical assistance to the aged and disabled which 22 shall be administered by the Department in accordance with 23 this Act, to consist of payments to authorized pharmacies, on 24 behalf of beneficiaries of the program, for the reasonable 25 costs of covered prescription drugs. Each beneficiary who 26 pays $5 for an identification card shall pay no additional 27 prescription costs. Each beneficiary who pays $25 for an 28 identification card shall pay $3 per prescription. In 29 addition, after a beneficiary receives $2,000 in benefits 30 during a State fiscal year through December 31, 2001 and, on 31 and after January 1, 2002, after a beneficiary receives 32 $2,000 in benefits during a calendar year, that beneficiary 33 shall also be charged 20% of the cost of each prescription 34 for which payments are made by the program during the -4- LRB9207067ACcdA 1 remainder of the fiscal year through December 31, 2001 and, 2 on and after January 1, 2002, during the remainder of the 3 calendar year. To become a beneficiary under this program a 4 person must be: (1) (i) 65 years or older, or (ii) the 5 surviving spouse of such a claimant, who at the time of death 6 received or was entitled to receive benefits pursuant to this 7 subsection, which surviving spouse will become 65 years of 8 age within the 24 months immediately following the death of 9 such claimant and which surviving spouse but for his or her 10 age is otherwise qualified to receive benefits pursuant to 11 this subsection, or (iii) disabled, and (2) is domiciled in 12 this State at the time he files his or her claim, and (3) has 13 a maximum household income of less than $14,000 for grant 14 years before the 1998 grant year, less than $16,000 for the 15 1998 and 1999 grant years, and less than (i) $21,218 for a 16 household containing one person, (ii) $28,480 for a household 17 containing 2 persons, or (iii) $35,740 for a household 18 containing 3 more persons for the 2000 grant year and 19 thereafter. In addition, each eligible person must (1) obtain 20 an identification card from the Department, (2) at the time 21 the card is obtained, sign a statement assigning to the State 22 of Illinois benefits which may be otherwise claimed under any 23 private insurance plans, (3) present the identification card 24 to the dispensing pharmacist. 25 Whenever a generic equivalent for a covered prescription 26 drug is available, the Department shall reimburse only for 27 the reasonable costs of the generic equivalent, less the 28 co-pay established in this Section, unless (i) the covered 29 prescription drug contains one or more ingredients defined as 30 a narrow therapeutic index drug at 21 CFR 320.33, (ii) the 31 prescriber indicates on the face of the prescription "brand 32 medically necessary", and (iii) the prescriber specifies that 33 a substitution is not permitted. When issuing an oral 34 prescription for covered prescription medication described in -5- LRB9207067ACcdA 1 item (i) of this paragraph, the prescriber shall stipulate 2 "brand medically necessary" and that a substitution is not 3 permitted. If the covered prescription drug and its 4 authorizing prescription do not meet the criteria listed 5 above, the beneficiary may purchase the non-generic 6 equivalent of the covered prescription drug by paying the 7 difference between the generic cost and the non-generic cost 8 plus the beneficiary co-pay. 9 Any person otherwise eligible for pharmaceutical 10 assistance under this Act whose covered drugs are covered by 11 any public program for assistance in purchasing any covered 12 prescription drugs shall be ineligible for assistance under 13 this Act to the extent such costs are covered by such other 14 plan. 15 The fee to be charged by the Department for the 16 identification card shall be equal to $5 per coverage year 17 for persons below the official poverty line as defined by the 18 United States Department of Health and Human Services and $25 19 per coverage year for all other persons. On and before 20 December 31, 2001, coverage under this pharmaceutical 21 assistance program shall begin on the date of application 22 approval and be in effect for 12 months. On and after January 23 1, 2002, coverage under this pharmaceutical assistance 24 program shall be in effect on a calendar year basis. 25 In the event that 2 or more persons are eligible for any 26 benefit under this Act, and are members of the same 27 household, (1) each such person shall be entitled to 28 participate in the pharmaceutical assistance program, 29 provided that he or she meets all other requirements imposed 30 by this subsection and (2) each participating household 31 member contributes the fee required for that person by the 32 preceding paragraph for the purpose of obtaining an 33 identification card. 34 (Source: P.A. 90-650, eff. 7-27-98; 91-357, eff. 7-29-99; -6- LRB9207067ACcdA 1 91-699, eff. 1-1-01.) 2 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 3 becoming law.