Gov. Blagojevich Reminds Illinoisans to Apply Online for Illinois Cares Rx

Press Release

Urges all seniors to sign up now to avoid interruption in wrap-around prescription drug coverage and lower costs; For more information on Illinois Cares Rx, call the Senior HelpLine at 1-800-252-8966 or visit www.illinoisbenefits.org

Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today urged all Illinois Cares Rx members to reapply for Illinois Cares Rx now in order to avoid a break in coverage, including seniors who have not yet reapplied because they thought their income was over the limit. The Governor also reminded Illinois citizens who are newly eligible for Medicare Part D to go online and apply for Illinois Cares Rx - the state's prescription drug assistance program that provides wrap-around prescription drug coverage to fill in the gaps created by Medicare Part D. Seniors and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply online because it is the fastest way to get approved for the program. Seniors with questions about Illinois Cares Rx can call the Illinois Department on Aging's Senior HelpLine at 1-800-252-8966 or visit www.illinoisbenefits.org.

"Illinois Cares Rx was created to make sure that no senior or disabled person would be left behind by the federal Medicare Part D program. I want to encourage seniors to go online and apply to get these best-in-the-nation prescription drug benefits," said Gov. Blagojevich. "It is also critical for all other previously eligible seniors to reapply as soon as possible to make sure they stay covered through next year."

For seniors and persons with disabilities who currently have coverage, but need to reapply, they can fill out an application via the Internet, to avoid a break in Illinois Cares Rx coverage and to ensure coverage continues on January 1, 2008. The deadline for applications is December 31, 2007 but the Illinois Department on Aging (IDoA) is encouraging everybody to apply now in order to avoid a break in coverage if they wait until the end of the calendar year.

Gov. Blagojevich and IDoA made the Illinois Cares Rx applications available online to make it easier and quicker to apply for benefits and to accommodate the increasing number of older persons accessing the World Wide Web. Several recent studies show that seniors are the fastest growing population of Internet users. Last year the number of Internet applications more than doubled when nearly 159,000 people took advantage of the Internet to file their Illinois Cares Rx applications and Circuit Breaker claims, compared to 75,288 filed online in all of 2005.

Before logging on to the Internet, the Blagojevich Administration suggests having the following information available in order to make the process smoother: Social Security number(s), amount of property taxes paid in 2006, amount of rent paid in 2006, and a copy of 2006 federal tax returns.

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