Updates from Governor Hogan
Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Hi Everyone,

Maryland's Governor Hogan held a press conference today and announced that the state has met some of the metrics needed in order to begin opening up the state again.

The state has met some milestones for
  • Expanded Testing Capacity
  • Increased Hospital Surge Capacity
  • Increase the supply of PPE
  • Robust contact tracing

We are not yet at stage 1 of reopening, however the Governor did make these t hree important announcements:
  • Schools will be closed through the end of the year
  • Resumption of Elective Medical Procedures
  • more on this below
  • Safe Outdoor Activities
  • In addition to outdoor activities such as walking, hiking, running or biking, the state will now allow for golf, tennis, boating, fishing, and camping
  • State Parks and beaches reopening for exercise

Now, more on the RESUMPTION OF ELECTIVE MEDICAL PROCEDURES, apologies for making you read all about going to the beach or the bay!

Governor Hogan has directed the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) to issue guidance that allows hospitals and licensed health care providers to resume elective and non-urgent medical procedures. The guidance from Secretary Neall will be found here. This is not about massage therapy, we are not open, this is about medical procedures in both a hospital or out-patient setting, as well as testing such as MRIs, all of which have been delayed due to the state shut down on elective procedures.

The discussion of reopening is hugely challenging and there are a lot of differing thoughts and opinions about the matter. When we are allowed to reopen each of us will need to make our own choices about what is right for us. AMTA-MD will do our best to bring you the information you need to make those decisions.

I've also included a short update about Maryland Unemployment below. Do join us for our Annual Meeting on Monday May 11th. Please remember to sign up for the meeting in advance.

A final question, we are considering offering a virtual forum to discuss many of these issues and answer questions, would you be interested in such an event?

Best wishes,

Amelia
Board Member and Government Relations Chair
for
Sabrina, David, and Mark
Your AMTA-Maryland Chapter Board
Maryland Unemployment Updates
Well, that didn't go very smoothly did it?

Applying for Unemployment was a mess for all the employees in March and April, and then the whole thing got even worse with the new BEACON system and the opening of applications for Sole Proprietors.

We heard from so many of you who struggled through a lot of waiting and getting kicked off only to be faced with questions that made absolutely no sense.

From what we hear, things are getting better. A lot of you are still waiting for a determination of eligibility, and many more are waiting for debit cards and payments, however we are only 10 days out from the opening and that is actually ahead of where they were with employees a month ago.

One good thing is that the weekly webcert system is working pretty smoothly, and the glitch that caused a number of people to be determined to be ineligible last week has been fixed, sign back on if that happened to you.

Please keep us posted on how the system is working for you. We do hope financial relief is arriving or arrives to you soon!
Details from the MBMTE Meeting on 4/22
The MBMTE met this morning and a number of changes were inacted and many other topics discussed. The Board is very aware of the challenging situation we are all in due to the coronavirus pandemic and are working to ease the challenges faced by massage therapists and practitioners in Maryland.

It is important to note that not all that AMTA-MD and others have asked for is within their statutory ability to change.

IMPORTANT CHANGES:

  1. The Board voted to reduce the CEs required for the 2020 Renewal from 24 to only the basic 7 required - 3 in Ethics and Jurisprudence, 1 CE in Cultural Competance/Diversity, and 3 in Communicable Diseases - all of these can be completed online.
  2. It is unknown when the Maryland State of Emergency will end. At this time, the governor has decreed that all state licensees and registrants have 30 days after the emergency is over to renew, if the renewal time happened during the State of Emergency.
  3. If the State of Emergency ends before October 1st, our regular renewal period would apply - Oct. 1 through Oct 31st.
  4. If the renewal period happens in October, the Board voted to waive the $200 late fee for people renewing from Nov. 1 - Nov. 30th to extend the time LMTs and RMPs have to renew their licenses without charge. NOTE - anyone who has not renewed by 10/31/2020 is no longer licensed and cannot be seeing clients.
  5. The MBMTE cannot change the renewal period - so it is either as scheduled or changed due to the State of Emergency.


ITEMS FOR CONTINUING DISCUSSION:

  1. Fee Reductions - the Executive Director Sharon Oliver is investigating what can be done to reduce our fees. The MBMTE is a self-sustaining board, as are most, so a reduction in income would effect staffing and enforcement. This will be discussed further at the May meeting.
  2. Payment Plans - along with fee reductions, the board is researching whether this would be a possibility.
  3. Future - Carry Over Credit for completed CEs beyond the 7 required. Many have already completed their CEs and the Education Committee is looking to see if it is possible to apply those to the 2022 renewal cycle. They will report on this at the May meeting.

Additionally, Governor Hogan has created a Return to Work Governor's Task Force - Board Member David Cox will be sitting on this task force as a MBMTE Board Member and meetings begin today. In addition Gwenda Harrison another board member is sitting on the task force as an individual business owner. We are pleased that there are two massage therapists taking part in the discussions.


QUESTIONS FROM LMTs and RMPs
At the end of the meeting Board Chair Paula Jilanis answered submitted questions, summarized below:

Can the MBMTE designate LMTs as essential workers given the populations that we work with? No, the list of who is an essential worker comes from the Federal Government, the Governor's Office and the Secretary of Health. The MBMTE does not have the power to change those declarations.

Alternate Instruction Planning? Schools are encouraged to seek guidance from their accrediting body as well as MHEC about changes to methods of instuction and other changes due to the pandemic.

MBLEx and Jurisprudence - all is on hold until changes are made to the social distancing requirements due to the state of emergency. The office building on Patterson Ave. where the Jurisprudence takes place is currently closed to the public.

CE Credits for attending the MBMTE meetings. A reminder from the executive director Sharon Oliver that those of us who attend the meeting are able to earn 1 CE for each meeting attended, these CEs apply towards the Ethics and Jurisprudence requirement. During the meeting the names of attendees are recorded and then you are required to email to confirm your attendance. The next meeting is on May 27th and will take place virtually. All info will be on the MBMTE website.