After a hearing the Illinois Department of Public Aid affirmed the ruling of the county department. On administrative review the circuit court of Cook County held that the plaintiffs were eligible for public assistance, and directed that payments be made retroactively to each plaintiff to the date of the application for assistance. The Appellate Court, First District, affirmed. ( 29 Ill. App.3d 546.) Because this result conflicts with the earlier decision of the appellate court in Reynolds v. Department of Public Aid (1975), 26 Ill. App.3d 933, we granted leave to appeal. The Public Aid Code contains the following relevant provisions concerning the eligibility of an applicant for financial assistance:
This is so because an aged person's entitlement or right to demand care and maintenance from a home is prima facie evidence of lack of need. (See Reynolds v. State of Illinois, 26 Ill. App.3d 933, 326 N.E.2d 109.) Resort to judicial action is neither expedient nor practical every time the existence of a life-care contract becomes an issue in the case of an applicant for old age assistance.
The statute "may not be altered or added to by the exercise of a power to make regulations thereunder." ( Reynolds v. Department of Public Aid, 26 Ill. App.3d 933, 937, 326 N.E.2d 109.) Pertinent regulations adopted by the Department are as follows: