PRINTER'S NO. 1322
No. 1148 Session of 1983
INTRODUCED BY GANNON, KLINGAMAN, BOYES, ARTY, CIMINI, HAYES,
LEHR, CAWLEY, OLASZ, ALDERETTE, PERZEL, BELARDI,
E. Z. TAYLOR, CESSAR, LEVIN, BUNT, STEVENS, PUNT, DeLUCA,
KOSINSKI, CIVERA, SALVATORE, BOOK, FATTAH, JOHNSON, TELEK,
NAHILL, GRUPPO, FISCHER, LASHINGER, DURHAM, PHILLIPS, GLADECK
AND GODSHALL, JUNE 6, 1983
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON FINANCE, JUNE 6, 1983
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of March 11, 1971 (P.L.104, No.3), entitled, as
2 reenacted and amended, "An act providing property tax or rent
3 rebate and inflation dividends to certain senior citizens,
4 widows, widowers and permanently disabled persons with
5 limited incomes; establishing uniform standards and
6 qualifications for eligibility to receive rebates and
7 dividends; providing for transportation assistance grants and
8 grants to area agencies on aging for services to older
9 persons; and imposing duties upon the Department of Revenue,"
10 providing for rebates for prescription costs.
11 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
12 hereby enacts as follows:
13 Section 1. Section 3(7) of the act of March 11, 1971
14 (P.L.104, No.3), known as the Senior Citizens Rebate and
15 Assistance Act, reenacted and amended June 16, 1975 (P.L.7,
16 No.4) and amended March 10, 1982 (P.L.177, No.56), is amended
17 and a clause is added to read:
18 Section 3. Definitions.--As used in this act:
19 * * *
20 (7) "Claimant" means a person who files a claim for
1 prescription cost, property tax rebate or rent rebate in lieu of
2 property taxes and inflation dividend and was sixty-five years
3 of age or over, or whose spouse (if a member of the household)
4 was sixty-five years of age or over, during a calendar year in
5 which prescription costs, real property taxes, rent and
6 inflation costs were due and payable or was a widow or widower
7 and was fifty years of age or over during a calendar year or
8 part thereof in which prescription costs, real property taxes,
9 rent and inflation costs were due and payable, or was a
10 permanently disabled person eighteen years of age or over during
11 a calendar year or part thereof in which prescription costs,
12 real property taxes, rent and inflation costs were due and
13 payable. For the purposes of this act the term "widow" or
14 "widower" shall mean the surviving wife or the surviving
15 husband, as the case may be, of a deceased individual and who
16 has not remarried except as provided in [subsection] subsections
17 (c) and (d) of section 4 of this act. For the purposes of this
18 act the term "permanently disabled person" shall mean a person
19 who is unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity by
20 reason of any medically determinable physical or mental
21 impairment which can be expected to continue indefinitely,
22 except as provided in [subsection] subsections (c) and (d) of
23 section 4 of this act.
24 * * *
25 (10) "Prescription costs" means the out-of-pocket expenses
26 for drugs and medicines prescribed by a physician and sold by a
27 licensed pharmacist. Prescription costs shall not include the
28 cost of over-the-counter drugs and shall not include costs which
29 are paid for or reimbursed by an insurer, State or Federal
30 agency or other third party.
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1 Section 2. Section 4 of the act, amended March 10, 1982
2 (P.L.177, No.56), is amended to read:
3 Section 4. Property Tax; Rent Rebate, Prescription and
4 Inflation Cost.--
5 (a.1) The amount of any claim for property tax rebate or
6 rent rebate in lieu of property taxes for real property taxes or
7 rent due and payable during calendar year 1981 and thereafter
8 shall be determined in accordance with the following schedule:
9 Percentage of Real Property Taxes or
10 Rent Rebate in Lieu of
11 Household Income Property Taxes Allowed as Rebate
12 $ 0 - $4,999 100%
13 5,000 - 5,999 80
14 6,000 - 6,999 60
15 7,000 - 7,999 40
16 8,000 - 8,999 20
17 9,000 - 11,999 10
18 (a.2) To all claimants eligible for a prescription cost,
19 property tax or rent rebate there shall be paid an inflation
20 dividend determined in accordance with the following schedule:
21 Household Income Dividend
22 $ 0 - 4,999 $125
23 5,000 - 5,999 100
24 6,000 - 6,999 75
25 7,000 - 7,999 60
26 8,000 - 8,999 45
27 9,000 -11,999 30
28 (a.3) To all claimants eligible for a property tax or rent
29 rebate for real property taxes or rent due and payable during
30 calendar year 1980 there shall be paid one hundred dollars
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1 ($100) as an additional inflation dividend. The additional
2 inflation dividend payment shall be mailed no later than the
3 mailing of the application form for claiming a 1981 property tax
4 or rent rebate.
5 (b) No claim shall be allowed if the amount of property tax
6 or rent rebate computed in accordance with this section is less
7 than ten dollars ($10), and the maximum amount of property tax
8 or rent rebate payable shall not exceed five hundred dollars
9 ($500).
10 (c) No claim shall be allowed if the claimant is a tenant of
11 an owner of real property exempt from real property taxes.
12 (d) If a homestead is owned or rented and occupied for only
13 a portion of a year or is owned or rented in part by a person
14 who does not meet the qualifications for a claimant, exclusive
15 of any interest owned or leased by a claimant's spouse, or if
16 the claimant is a widow or widower who remarries, or if the
17 claimant is a permanently disabled person who is no longer
18 disabled, the department shall apportion the real property taxes
19 or rent in accordance with the period or degree of ownership or
20 leasehold or eligibility of the claimant in determining the
21 amount of rebate for which a claimant is eligible. A claimant
22 who receives public assistance from the Department of Public
23 Welfare shall not be eligible for prescription cost, rent rebate
24 in lieu of property taxes, or an inflation dividend during those
25 months within which he receives public assistance.
26 (e) Rent shall not include subsidies provided by or through
27 a governmental agency.
28 (f) The amount of any claim for prescription costs due and
29 payable during calendar year 1983 and thereafter shall be
30 determined in accordance with the following schedule:
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1 Percentage of Prescription Costs
2 Household Income Allowed as Rebate
3 $ 0 - $5,999 100%
4 6,000 - 7,999 80
5 8,000 - 11,999 40
6 (g) No claim for prescription drugs and medicines shall be
7 allowed if the amount of prescription cost computed in
8 accordance with this section is less than fifty dollars ($50).
9 The maximum amount of prescription costs shall not exceed one
10 thousand dollars ($1,000).
11 Section 3. Sections 5, 6 and 8 of the act, amended December
12 21, 1979 (P.L.570, No.131), are amended to read:
13 Section 5. Filing of Claim.--A claim for prescription cost,
14 property tax or rent rebate and inflation dividend shall be
15 filed with the department on or before the thirtieth day of June
16 of the year next succeeding the end of the calendar year in
17 which prescription costs were incurred or real property taxes or
18 rent were due and payable: Provided, That claims filed after the
19 June 30 deadline until December 31 of such calendar year shall
20 be accepted by the Secretary of Revenue as long as funds are
21 available to pay the benefits to the late filing claimants. No
22 reimbursement on a claim shall be made from the State Lottery
23 Fund earlier than the day following the thirtieth day of June
24 provided in this act on which that claim may be filed with the
25 department. Rebate claims for taxes or rent paid during calendar
26 year 1977 shall be accepted by the Secretary of Revenue if filed
27 with the department on or before the thirtieth day of April
28 1979. Only one claimant from a homestead each year shall be
29 entitled to the prescription cost, property tax or rent rebate
30 and inflation dividend. If two or more persons are able to meet
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1 the qualifications for a claimant, they may determine who the
2 claimant shall be. If they are unable to agree, the department
3 shall determine to whom the rebate and dividend is to be paid.
4 Section 6. Proof of Claim.--(a) Each claim shall include
5 reasonable proof of household income, the size and nature of the
6 property claimed as a homestead and the rent or tax receipt, or
7 other proof that the real property taxes on the homestead have
8 been paid, or rent in connection with the occupancy of a
9 homestead has been paid. If the claimant is a widow, or widower,
10 a declaration of such status in such manner as prescribed by the
11 Secretary of Revenue shall be included. Proof that a claimant is
12 eligible to receive disability benefits under the Federal Social
13 Security Act shall constitute proof of disability under this
14 act. No person who has been found not to be disabled by the
15 social security administration shall be granted a rebate or
16 dividend under this act. A claimant not covered under the
17 Federal Social Security Act shall be examined by a physician
18 designated by the department and such status determined using
19 the same standards used by the social security administration.
20 It shall not be necessary that such taxes or rent were paid
21 directly by the claimant: Provided, That the rent or taxes have
22 been paid when the claim is filed. The first claim filed shall
23 include proof that the claimant or his spouse was age sixty-five
24 or over or fifty years or over in the case of a widow, or
25 widower, during the calendar year in which real property taxes
26 or rent were due and payable.
27 (b) Claims for prescription costs shall, in addition to
28 reasonable proof of household income, contain an itemized
29 certificate issued by a pharmacist for all prescription drugs
30 and medicines and the cost thereof purchased by the claimant
19830H1148B1322 - 6 -
1 during a given calendar year on a form provided by the
2 department. A pharmacist who issues a false certification shall
3 have his license subject to revocation or suspension under the
4 provisions of section 5 of the act of September 27, 1961
5 (P.L.1700, No.699), known as the "Pharmacy Act."
6 Section 8. Funds for Payment of Administrative Expenses and
7 Claims.--Expenses, salaries and other costs incurred in the
8 administration of this act and approved claims shall be paid
9 from the State Lottery Fund established by the act of August 26,
10 1971 (P.L.351, No.91), known as the "State Lottery Law." In the
11 event that the total amount of administrative expenses and
12 claims exceeds the amount in such fund, in any one year, then
13 the amounts allowed as prescription costs, tax or rent rebates
14 and inflation dividends shall be reduced in the proportion that
15 the amount of such fund bears to the total amount of claims in
16 such year. For the purposes of this section, the amount in the
17 State Lottery Fund shall include the June 30 ending lottery fund
18 balance plus eighty per cent of projected lottery fund revenues
19 after lottery fund administrative expenses for the subsequent
20 fiscal year.
21 Section 4. This act shall be retroactive to January 1, 1983
22 and shall apply to prescription costs incurred during calendar
23 year 1983 and each calendar year thereafter.
24 Section 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
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