News from the MBMTE Meeting Today
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Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Hi Everyone,
Today's Maryland Board of Massage Therapy Examiners' (MBMTE) monthly meeting has concluded and a couple of important changes have been enacted.
CEs required for renewal have been decreased.
There are many more questions, however this is a good first step. All the details are below along with answers to many more questions.
We will include our updates from Monday's email in case you didn't see them:
- A remainder that applications for Unemployment as an Independent Contractor or Sole Proprietor will be accepted on Friday.
- Finally, we have updates on some of the business aid programs from SBA and Maryland and are curious about what your experience has been. Anyone receive aid?
Best wishes,
Amelia
Board Member and Government Relations Chair
for
Sabrina, David, Lee, and Mark
Your AMTA-Maryland Chapter Board
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Updates and Changes from
Maryland Board of Massage Therapy Examiners
Meeting - April 22, 2020
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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:
- 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.
- 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.
- If the State of Emergency ends before October 1st, our regular renewal period would apply - Oct. 1 through Oct 31st.
- 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.
- 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:
- 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.
- Payment Plans - along with fee reductions, the board is researching whether this would be a possibility.
- 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.
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Unemployment Applications open Friday
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- Beginning April 17th eligible Marylanders will begin seeing their additional $600 per week payment. This payment is on top of current regular benefits and will be received on the day of your next regularly scheduled payment. If you do not regularly receive your benefit payment on Friday, you will not see this payment today. Marylanders will receive benefits retroactive to their earliest date of eligibility.
- FRIDAY, April 24, Labor is launching a new one-stop unemployment insurance application to allow ALL newly eligible Marylanders to file ALL types of claims entirely online.
- Those who are eligible for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, including those who are self-employed, independent contractors, gig economy workers, and have insufficient work history, will be able to file online using the new application.
- Individuals who were previously required to file by phone, like federal employees, members of the military, those who have worked in multiple states, and have worked for more than 3 employers in the last 18 months, will also be able to file online using the new application.
- New and existing claimants will automatically receive an additional 13 weeks of benefits under the CARES Act. Those who have recently exhausted their benefits will be able to reapply online using the new application.
- In addition to reassigning over 150 state employees and hiring 100 new employees, Labor has partnered with a vendor to bring in 200 additional call and claim takers.
- Starting on April 18, Labor's claim centers will be open on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Applicants who have signed up to receive notification all got a really hard to read email on this topic, what is essential is that you head to
MDunemployment.com
on Friday and get your claim going!
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MD LICENSE RENEWAL AND CE REQUIREMENTS
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As we have shared, AMTA-MD has asked the Maryland Board of Massage Therapy Examiners to formally extend the renewal deadline for a year and to reduce or eliminate CE and CPR requirements.
The MBMTE will meet again on Wednesday 4/22 - details on the link below. The published agenda shows that there will be continued discussion on the requests that AMTA-MD proposed last month and are hopeful that some changes can be made.
It is important to remember that the Board may not have statutory power over everything we would like to change. We will discover more on Wednesday.
AMTA-MD has also reached out to some of our allies in the Maryland Legislature to ask for their guidance and support. If such changes need to be made by the Governor or legislature, we have initiated that process.
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WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THE AID?
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Unfortunately, what we are seeing is that most of the aid programs, for both loans and grants have received far more applications than they have funds to cover.
At this time most of the programs have been closed to new applications. You will need to investigate for your own circumstances individually.
Speaking with other MTs, some who are business owners have received funds or have been approved for loans with the SBA, many more have not heard back yet.
We have not heard any news on the Maryland Grants and Loans.
Please share your news - what have you applied for - what news have you received?
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