14:05:12 Sarah Basehart. I'm the Executive Director at independence now. I'm 14:05:16 going to get things started. Before we start with our speakers 14:05:21 today, I am going to introduce things and we are going to do a 14:05:25 quick round from the Centers for Independent Living who are on the call 14:05:30 with their vaccine clinic information. We know it is important 14:05:34 for everyone. It is being put in the chat. If you are able to access 14:05:38 that you can certainly do that. If you are not able to access that, 14:05:42 I encourage you to call one of your local centers -- 14:05:46 your local one is probably the easiest one to get the most 14:05:51 local vaccine information. We are all doing a lot of work on 14:05:55 that right now. Welcome to IM. This is put 14:05:59 together by the Maryland Centers for Independent Living 14:06:03 . I'm the exec 14:06:07 Executive Director tore. We are pleased to 14:06:12 bring you today's program that affects the lives of all melders 14:06:17 ers Marylanders. Thr is being recorded 14:06:22 and archived on image center's YouTube channel. You can find 14:06:26 it directly there. It takes about 48 hours to show up there. It has to get 14:06:30 captioned. Bear with us for a couple of days. I know, it's earth 14:06:34 shattering. You want to come back and watch it again. Give us a little bit 14:06:38 of time to get it captioned and be accessible to everybody. 14:06:42 Heather does mute everyone during the presentation of the speakers to 14:06:46 avoid all of that background noise. You can unmute 14:06:50 yourself, but we are going to ask you to do that when we 14:06:54 are taking questions. It gets very difficult to hear speakers if others 14:06:58 are unmuted during that time. If you have questions, though, please unmute 14:07:02 yourself if you need to ask it verbally. You are also welcome to 14:07:07 put those questions in our chat or use the raised hand feature and I'll do 14:07:11 my very best to keep an eye on things and make sure we 14:07:13 get you called on to ask any questions. 14:07:17 And while we are doing vaccine announcements now, if there are any 14:07:22 other announcements we'll do those at the end of the program. 14:07:26 I am going to pause here. Let's see. Shannon did our announcement 14:07:30 from independence now. We have three clinics running here soon 14:07:33 . Joan, do you want to announce for 14:07:36 ARI? >> JOAN: Yes, I'm Joan from 14:07:40 accessible resources for independence and ARI in partnership with the Howard 14:07:43 county health department, Maryland Department of disabilities and 14:07:48 Maryland Department of Health is sponsoring a vaccine clinic this 14:07:52 coming Friday, the 23rd of April. If you want more information, I have put 14:07:56 that information in the chat box. You can contact our COVID coordinator 14:08:01 , Audrey sellers, 14:08:05 (443)713-3915. I just realized I didn't put the 14:08:10 email in there. It is COVIDsupplies@A 14:08:14 RI.org. I'll put that in the chat box as well. 14:08:18 Howard county residents, interested? Give us a call. Thank you. 14:08:22 >> SARAH BASEHART: Thanks. How about Cheryl grows man for the 14:08:26 Baltimore area? Cheryl cherem hi, thank you so much. We have 14:08:29 a. >> CHERYL: Hi, thank you so much. 14:08:33 We have a couple things for Baltimore city and county, for those who live 14:08:37 , work, or volunteer in that area, we have 14:08:42 about 50 more doses for a clinic 14:08:46 partnered between us, the state 14:08:50 equity task force which is peopled by 14:08:54 FEMA and one of 14:08:59 the orthodox Jewish locations in town at an accessible 14:09:03 location. We have 50 more for tomorrow, Tuesday evening 14:09:07 between 7 and 9. That is the final one for our last 14:09:11 run of moderna. Starting again next week, 14:09:15 so we have almost a week off. Starting again next week we are hoping 14:09:20 to get the Pfizer product and be able to vaccinate our 16 and 14:09:24 17-year-old folk. This counts for caregivers as well 14:09:28 as individuals themselves. So as long as they come with a person who has 14:09:32 a disability or chronic health condition needing a vaccine 14:09:37 we can take the others. We don't yet have Pfizer but hopefully we will 14:09:41 . We are collecting contact information now of those 16 and 14:09:45 17-year-olds to get that done. And then later in May we 14:09:49 do not have dates finalized or locations finalized yet we 14:09:53 are partnering with Baltimore city to do additional clinics at 14:09:56 it looks like three additional locations. 14:10:00 >> SARAH BASEHART: Thank you! And let's see. 14:10:05 Dave Dresner from freedom center. >> DAVE: Hi 14:10:09 , everyone. Freedom center is collaborating with 14:10:13 State Department of health, State Department of disabilities, Frederick 14:10:18 county health department and community partners way station 14:10:22 and the ARC of Frederick county on a vaccine clinic that 14:10:27 will be held Wednesday, a week from this Wednesday. Wednesday, April 14:10:32 28th, 9 to 5 at the Clario 14:10:36 n inn in Frederick, 5400 holiday 14:10:40 drive. You can call the freedom center. I put the info in 14:10:44 the chat or email us at the 14:10:48 advocate@freedomcenter email which is also in the 14:10:51 chat to register or get more information. 14:10:55 We will be posting information about the clinic on 14:11:00 our website and our social media which we have not done yet 14:11:04 . The official announcement doesn't actually go out 14:11:08 until tomorrow or Wednesday. You all are getting a first-time preview 14:11:12 of that. So thank you. >> SARAH BASEHART: Great. Okay. 14:11:16 Any other vaccine clinic information from the 14:11:20 local CILs? Otherwise I'm going to get things started. 14:11:24 The rest of our session. 14:11:25 14:11:26 (There is no response.) >> SARAH BASEHART: Thank you, all. 14:11:30 Lots happening. Good opportunities to get your vaccine. 14:11:33 Today we are going to have two 14:11:37 speakers, Debbie Feierman and Chris Mata. 14:11:42 I'm going to introduce both of them. Just to give you a brief overview 14:11:46 of how things will go down, Debbie will kick off 14:11:50 with COVID-related information and move on to speak about special 14:11:53 enrollment opportunity that is happening right now for uninsured 14:11:57 folks. Then Chris, who is from the 14:12:01 Montgomery county health connection will speak about the ways that 14:12:05 Marylanders can get help, insurance and the financial 14:12:10 assist tns tans they need for that. Let me tell you about them, quick 14:12:12 . Debbie is from the Office of 14:12:16 program operations and local engagement with CMS. Debbie 14:12:20 joined CMS in settlement of 2002. She works in the Office of the 14:12:25 regional administrator on the regional external affairs team where 14:12:29 she conducts education and outreach presentations for Medicare and 14:12:33 the health insurance marketplace. She also works with the state, 14:12:37 federal, and local organizations developing partnerships and 14:12:40 opportunities to bring healthcare information to the public. 14:12:44 Debbie is a social worker whose clinical practice has focused on 14:12:47 patients with chronic health conditions. 14:12:51 And Chris is the program supervisor at the Montgomery 14:12:55 county health connection. He has been a Maryland health benefit exchange 14:12:59 certified navigator since 2017. Previous experience with 14:13:04 the prince George's county health connect and currently working 14:13:09 with Montgomery county health connection. He's a certified 14:13:13 navigator with Montgomery county since 2019 14:13:16 . Debbie, we are going to go to you. 14:13:19 >> DEBBIE FEIERMAN: Thanks so much, Sarah. I appreciate that. Good 14:13:23 afternoon, everyone. I'm usually doing things with people on the east 14:13:27 and west cogs. I was about to say good morning, but this has been 14:13:31 a long day. We'll let the morning go and move into 14:13:34 the afternoon. I'm delighted to be here with you. 14:13:38 I want to thank Sarah and the independence 14:13:42 now organization for providing this opportunity for us. It 14:13:46 is a delight to be with you today. We, 14:13:50 and I don't mean to speak for Chris, but I'm sure 14:13:55 that his organization as well appreciates the opportunity to share 14:14:00 some information that we hope will be been initial to 14:14:04 beneficial to you, to your community and the 14:14:08 people you serve; families, friends, neighbors 14:14:11 . Because healthcare, we know, is one 14:14:15 thing that affects all of us, right? 14:14:19 So it is particularly during a public health emergency it 14:14:24 is very important to get information, correct 14:14:29 information from trustworthy sources 14:14:31 . As Sarah said I work for the 14:14:35 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. This organization 14:14:40 is a federal agency. We don't sell insurance. We 14:14:44 don't, we are not agents and brokers. Our job is 14:14:49 to, is public service, right? We are here 14:14:53 to provide information, help people resolve issues that 14:14:57 might impede access or understand what their coverage benefit 14:15:01 s are. I should distinguish CMS, 14:15:06 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, from the 14:15:12 Social Security Administration. The Social Security Administration is a 14:15:16 sister agency. That is the agency that is responsible for determining 14:15:20 eligibility and enrollment for 14:15:23 Social Security disability as well as for Medicare. 14:15:27 CMS, the agency that I work for, we do have oversight 14:15:31 for the Medicare program. Medicaid, we work with the states. Of 14:15:36 course, the states administer their Medicaid program but we work 14:15:40 with them in doing so. Also for the 14:15:44 marketplace or otherwise known as the health exchange and the children 14:15:48 's health insurance program. That is an overview of the agency 14:15:52 . But I wanted to distinguish. Particularly folks 14:15:57 who are eligible for Medicare because of a disability, not based 14:16:01 on age, it is important to understand that the Social Security 14:16:06 Administration makes those determinations and then informs us who 14:16:09 those people are. I am going to get started and then 14:16:13 I am going to do a little bit about COVID basic 14:16:17 s that we want to make sure you have an understanding. Then I 14:16:22 will turn it over to Chris. He will talk specifically about the Maryland 14:16:27 exchange so you can make sure that you get that information 14:16:30 also. I am going to shut off my video at 14:16:34 this time and share my presentation. 14:16:41 If somebody could tell me if you 14:16:45 can see that. Okay, thanks, so much, Sarah. I 14:16:49 saw that. So as I said, I am with the Centers 14:16:52 for Medicare & Medicaid Services, also known as CMS. 14:16:56 And a little bit about what we 14:17:00 know about COVID. It is known that this is 14:17:04 an infection with SARS- 14:17:08 SARS-VoV-2, the virus that cause 14:17:14 s COVID 19. 14:17:18 It can result from a range of illness from mimed symptoms 14:17:23 to more severe illness and in the most unfortunate circumstances 14:17:27 it can result until death. We don't know 14:17:32 how CoV-2 will affect each 14:17:36 person individually but we do know that there are 14:17:40 some people who are at increased risk. Some people like 14:17:44 adults 65 years of age and older and some people 14:17:48 with certain medical conditions are more likely to 14:17:54 become more severely ill when infected with the 14:17:56 virus. Some of those medical conditions 14:18:00 that we know are things like diabetes, 14:18:05 immune disorders, obesity, cancer, heart disease 14:18:10 . So it is important for those 14:18:16 individuals to heed some of the precautions that we'll talk 14:18:20 about. Also to strongly consider the vaccine that 14:18:24 is now available. So there are some actions that 14:18:28 everyone can take that can prevent 14:18:32 COVID-19. Of course, we talk about wearing a mask that covers both 14:18:37 your mouth and your nose and to avoid close contact with other 14:18:41 others at least 6 feet, two arm length 14:18:45 s from one another. Avoiding crowds and poor 14:18:49 ly ventilated spaces. Hopefully as the weather breaks 14:18:53 people will be able to enjoy the outdoors more. But outdoor 14:18:57 better ventilation. Washing hands often with soap and 14:19:01 water. Using alcohol-based hand sanitizers 14:19:05 when it is, when soap and water is not available. 14:19:09 And that the hand sanitizer have at least 14:19:13 60 percent alcohol base. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and 14:19:17 mouth with your unwashed hands. These are passageway 14:19:21 s that one can ingest the virus 14:19:25 . Then clean and disinfect 14:19:29 frequently-touched services daily. Then consider, of course, getting 14:19:33 a COVID vaccine when it is available to you. 14:19:38 So COVID-19 vaccines this 14:19:42 are the way to build, a safe way to build 14:19:46 protection. Getting the virus itself may offer some natural protection 14:19:50 , which is known as immunity. But experts don't know 14:19:54 how long that protection lasts. And, of course, the risk 14:19:58 of severe illness and death from COVID outweighs 14:20:03 any benefits that you might get from natural immunity. 14:20:07 So COVID-19 vaccinations is 14:20:12 thought to be the best protection to offer at this time. 14:20:17 And it is actually I'm delighted to 14:20:21 hear so many of you will be offering the vaccine clinics in 14:20:25 your community. The vaccines have been administered 14:20:31 or provided to the states. Of course, you know the states 14:20:35 make determinations about their rollout plans 14:20:39 . It sounds like many of you are already working with your 14:20:43 Department of Health in scheduling those. So that is good to hear. 14:20:48 So some key facts about COVID-19 14:20:52 vaccinations. Getting 14:20:57 vaccinated can help prevent getting some serious 14:21:01 sickness with COVID-19. People who have already 14:21:06 gotten sick with COVID-19 can still benefit from getting 14:21:10 vaccinated. COVID-19 vaccines cannot give 14:21:14 you COVID. This 14:21:20 last -- whoops, so sorry. This last little thing 14:21:24 is COVID-19 vaccines will not cause you to test positive on a 14:21:29 COVID environmental test. So 14:21:34 it could cause a positive test on a antibody 14:21:38 test, but not, it would 14:21:42 not cause on a COVID test. 14:21:48 So let's talk a little bit about 14:21:52 payments for COVID testing because that is, of course, a 14:21:56 concern of many. Medicare part B 14:22:01 has added, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 14:22:07 have authorized the COVID-19 vaccine and its 14:22:12 administration to the list of preventive services that are payable 14:22:16 under Medicare part B as in boy, and it 14:22:21 is available without copayment or deductible. 14:22:25 So typically Medicare part B does carry some 14:22:30 copayments. And a deductible. 14:22:34 This particular vaccine is not subject to those. It should be 14:22:38 at no cost to the consumer (Sneezing.) 14:22:40 >> DEBBIE FEIERMAN: People with 14:22:44 Medicare pay nothing for the vaccine. You won't pay a deductible or 14:22:48 copayment. Your provider should not be providing you for an administration 14:22:52 fee to give you a shot. Medicare does 14:22:56 cover the FDA authorized COVID 14:23:00 vaccines as of February 27th 14:23:04 . Those are granted emergency authorization for COVID are 14:23:09 the Pfizer, moderna, and 14:23:14 January send or 14:23:18 J and J. Some people are 14:23:22 enrolled in the Medicare Advantage plans. These 14:23:26 are healthcare organizations like a Cigna or H 14:23:30 umana or Kaiser or Aetna, where people get 14:23:35 their Medicare A, B, and perhaps Part D benefits. 14:23:38 From one organization. And that 14:23:40 would be a Medicare Advantage organization. 14:23:44 So people that are in Medicare plan 14:23:49 s pay nothing for the vaccine. They also do not pay 14:23:52 copayments. They do not pay deductibles. 14:23:56 For the calendar year 20-21, those providers 14:24:00 will bill original Medicare. And the federal government will pay for the 14:24:05 vaccine administration for beneficiaries who are enrolled in a 14:24:09 Medicare Advantage plan. So they also pay nothing. You 14:24:13 know, the copayments and the coinsurance and deductibles 14:24:17 are waived. Through 2021 those plan member 14:24:21 s, Medicare Advantage plan members can get a vaccine 14:24:25 from any Medicare provider even if that provider is outside of their 14:24:30 Medicare Advantage network. So these Medicare Advantage 14:24:35 plans typically have a network and you see providers that are part of that 14:24:40 network. For this year, 2021, they are able to go 14:24:44 outside of their network. So important to know. 14:24:49 Medicaid and CHIP must also provide 14:24:55 vaccines with no cost sharing during the public health emergency. However, 14:24:59 after the public health emergency states, depending on the population in 14:25:03 their state, the State may reevaluate their policies and 14:25:07 amend their plans and submit those 14:25:12 for amendment for any updates that they may wish to make 14:25:15 . Private insurers, most private 14:25:20 insurers cover the vaccine in and out of network at no cost share as 14:25:24 well. And for both in network and out of network at 14:25:28 no cost share. So at this time they are following 14:25:32 along those lines. For folks who are currently 14:25:37 uninsured, there is, the federal got does 14:25:41 reimburse providers for uninsured individuals for administering 14:25:46 the COVID vaccination to people who don't 14:25:49 have insurance. There is something called the provider relief fund. It 14:25:53 is administered by our center agency in the federal 14:25:57 government, health resources and services 14:26:02 administration otherwise known as HRSA. They run the federally 14:26:06 qualified health centers. They have the authorization 14:26:11 for that provider relief fund to reimburse 14:26:17 providers for uninsured individuals. So it should not be at any 14:26:20 cost to them as well. 14:26:24 And I just want to say a quick 14:26:29 word. When a person does get a vaccine, we are hearing 14:26:34 some reports, people are contacting saying that 14:26:38 they have been charged or they think they may have been 14:26:42 charged a fee when they went to their providers. So 14:26:47 if individuals get other health services at the time 14:26:51 that they get their COVID vaccination, they 14:26:57 may owe a copay and deductible for those other services. 14:27:01 They should not be charged for the administration of the vaccination. 14:27:05 If they do feel that they were improperly charged it is 14:27:09 important that they check their explanation of benefits, contact their 14:27:13 provider to make sure that they have an understanding of how 14:27:17 they were billed. If they still feel they tbharmt 14:27:22 were inappropriately charged for that and 14:27:25 they think they should not have been, they can report those to the Office of 14:27:31 the Inspector General. They can call 1- 14:27:38 800-HHS 14:27:42 tips or contact them online. That kind of information should be 14:27:46 reported. Lastly, I will 14:27:50 say the guidance that is being offered out of 14:27:55 the CDC, Centers for Disease Control, we leave you 14:27:59 with this. This is the guidance that has been offer 14:28:03 ed previously. But still bears repeating even with the vaccination 14:28:08 s. Wear cloth mask over nose and mouth. Those 14:28:12 are the outlets where one can emit 14:28:17 some spit, some, that can travel and stay in the 14:28:21 area. You want to make sure you cover both your nose and mouth. Please 14:28:26 stay 6 feet apart or avoid close contact. 14:28:30 And continue washing your hands. I want to draw 14:28:34 your attention, since this is a group of organizations that work 14:28:39 ing with both the disabled community and perhaps older adult 14:28:44 s as well. The CDC created a toolkit. If you 14:28:48 haven't had a chance to look at it, I encourage you to. It has 14:28:52 some excellent guidance for people to help people 14:28:57 with disabilities as well as those who take care of them and 14:29:01 serve them, around protecting your health, communicate 14:29:06 s in your community and some guidance 14:29:11 around equitable vaccine access. So those 14:29:15 are available at the CDC website and on this 14:29:20 slide are the links. If you see at the bottom one, if you go to 14:29:25 www.CDC 14:29:29 .gov/coronavirus, you can actually even put in the 14:29:33 search engine toolkit or disabilities. 14:29:37 It will pull up all of the 14:29:41 available resources there for vaccine 14:29:45 considerations for people with disabilities, the 14:29:49 guidance, and information about equitable access and distribution 14:29:53 distribution. So I want to make sure that you 14:29:57 have that information. 14:30:04 Then at this point I will get ready 14:30:08 to turn it over to Chris who will talk about the Maryland exchange. 14:30:12 This picture that you see here is the picture you see on the 14:30:16 federal health exchange. In January 28th of 14:30:21 2021, there was an announcement about a 14:30:25 special enrollment period for people in the marketplace 14:30:29 , otherwise known as the health exchange, that allows Americans an 14:30:33 opportunity to enroll in healthcare during the pandemic. 14:30:38 The special enrollment period is available from February 15th through 14:30:42 August 15th. It is available to all residents 14:30:46 of the 36 states that use the federal exchange. So there are 14:30:50 36 states that are still using the federal platform that you see 14:30:56 here. The remaining states either run their own or share a 14:31:00 platform with the federal. They are state-based but 14:31:03 use some federal exchange. Maryland happens to be a state that 14:31:08 runs its own. We are going to hear from Chris in a little bit about how 14:31:12 the Maryland exchange 14:31:16 , how you can access it, things that you can leash about it 14:31:21 . This special enrollment period 14:31:26 allows new and current enrollees, people currently getting 14:31:31 their insurance on the health exchange, this extra period to go back 14:31:35 in and resubmit their application 14:31:39 because there have been, there has been an increase in the tax credits 14:31:43 that is available to reduce the premium costs. 14:31:47 So there is some additional financial help available that helps 14:31:51 pay for premiums. And these tax credit 14:31:56 s are made available through, of course, the American rescue plan 14:32:00 act. That does help reduce those premiums 14:32:04 . And the changes are made for both 14:32:09 calendar year 2021 and 2022. With that I am going to turn it 14:32:13 over to Chris. I'll stop sharing my screen. 14:32:15 >> SARAH BASEHART: Debbie, it's 14:32:20 Sarah. Before Chris starts on I don't 14:32:24 interrupt him. I didn't get the phone number that you said people 14:32:28 could call if they were charged for a COVID vaccine. 14:32:32 >> DEBBIE FEIERMAN: Sure, the Inspector General's phone number? 14:32:34 >> SARAH BASEHART: Yes, please. >> DEBBIE FEIERMAN: Let me get 14:32:37 that for you. I have it right here. >> SARAH BASEHART: It wasn't on 14:32:43 the slide 1-800-HHS- 14:32:47 TIPS. The website is TIPS 14:32:52 .HHS for Health and Human Services 14:32:58 .gov 14:32:59 . >> SARAH BASEHART: Thank you. I'm 14:33:03 going to work out what those numbers are in a second. If you're not good 14:33:07 with that I'll put it in the chat. I have to look at my phone 14:33:08 . >> DEBBIE FEIERMAN: Great, thanks. 14:33:12 I'm going to turn it over to Chris to talk about the Mary 14:33:19 land exchange. I have been working in Maryland long enough to 14:33:23 know that there are people in DC and Virginia that 14:33:27 are close enough, DC is state base 14:33:31 ed and I put on this slide the DC 14:33:36 link for residents of the district who are currently insured 14:33:40 or who want to be reevaluated to see if their premium 14:33:44 s might be lower. That is also here. And I will come back to this 14:33:48 slide. I'll stop sharing. So Chris can put his slides up 14:33:52 and 14:33:56 we will come back to that. >> CHRIS MATA: Thank you so much, 14:34:01 Debbie. I'll go ahead and share my slides as well so we can 14:34:05 go ahead and have that on the screen for us to begin. 14:34:08 14:34:12 (Pause.) 14:34:28 >> CHRIS MATA: There we go. If 14:34:32 anyone can let me know if you are able to see the full slide on the screen. 14:34:36 >> My computer says you're sharing. >> CHRIS MATA: Perfect 14:34:40 . Great. Thank you so much. So before I get started 14:34:44 , as you can see 14:34:49 what I will be talking about today is how to get coverage through the 14:34:53 Maryland health connection. Before I begin, again my name 14:34:58 is Christopher Mata. I want to thank Sarah so much 14:35:02 for offering us the opportunity to attend today 14:35:07 's I am session with independence now. I 14:35:12 hope that the information that I provide today will be of use 14:35:16 and can provide you with information that you may not have known about 14:35:20 before, especially during today's 14:35:26 virtual education 14:35:28 education. The main topics that I will be 14:35:32 discussing today as an overview, I will be speaking 14:35:36 about Maryland health connection in terms of the financial help we offer 14:35:40 , what is covered under the plans and coverage that 14:35:45 the exchange offers to Maryland residents 14:35:49 and also about open enrollment and the special 14:35:51 enrollment periods that we are currently offering. 14:35:56 In addition I want to spend some time specifically to discuss 14:36:01 about Montgomery county health connection and the different ways that 14:36:05 we are here to help during the 14:36:09 current COVID-19 pandemic in terms of virtual support 14:36:15 . About Maryland health connection. 14:36:20 Many of you are probably familiar with Maryland health connection. 14:36:24 But there are some new and important updates in light 14:36:27 of the COVID-19 public health emergency. 14:36:31 Also the recent passing of a new law 14:36:35 otherwise known as the American rescue plan act that became 14:36:40 effective April 1st. I will share with you all about 14:36:44 those new changes that have occurred recently. In addition to some of the 14:36:48 basics. So Maryland health 14:36:52 connection. We are the state's official health 14:36:56 insurance marketplace. Where Maryland residents can shop, compare and 14:37:01 enroll in private health plans. Our website, Maryland 14:37:05 healthconnection.gov offersen roment in quality 14:37:08 health and dental insurance that fits your needs and budget. 14:37:13 It is the only place in Maryland to get financial help with 14:37:17 health coverage. 14:37:22 Who is eligible? There are some 14:37:27 basic eligibility requirements that one would have to meet in order 14:37:31 to be able to take advantage of the assistance that 14:37:36 the exchange offers. So to be eligible for health 14:37:40 coverage through Maryland health connection 14:37:45 , you have to be a Maryland resident. (Some background 14:37:47 noise.) >> CHRIS MATA: Also Maryland 14:37:52 residents have to be either a U.S. citizen, U.S. national 14:37:55 or lawfully present in the United States in order to qualify for 14:38:00 assistance. Also not currently incarcerated. 14:38:03 >> SARAH BASEHART: Chris, can we 14:38:06 stop one second? We have a question. Janice, can you go ahead with your 14:38:12 question? 14:38:19 Ms. Janice, can you unmute and ask 14:38:22 your question? >> JANICE: Can you hear me now? 14:38:26 >> SARAH BASEHART: Yes, we can. >> JANICE: Okay. Well, his voice 14:38:30 is breaking up so I can't understand what he's saying. 14:38:33 >> SARAH BASEHART: Okay. Let's see. Chris, maybe we just ask you to 14:38:38 move a little closer to your microphone if that is possible? 14:38:39 >> CHRIS MATA: Sure. Is that 14:38:41 better? >> SARAH BASEHART: Or speak up a 14:38:45 little bit? I think you have a softer voice. 14:38:47 (Laughter.) >> CHRIS MATA: It could be. Is 14:38:49 this better. >> JANICE: That's a little bit 14:38:52 better. >> HEATHER COMSTOCK: We do also 14:38:56 have captions available. There is usually on the bottom of your screen 14:39:00 where it says more, there's 33 dots. It 14:39:04 has show subtitles. That might be helpful as well. 14:39:06 >> JANICE: Okay, thank you. >> HEATHER COMSTOCK: You're 14:39:08 welcome. >> SARAH BASEHART: I'll just say 14:39:12 Chris, no one ever accused me of that. Thank you. 14:39:16 >> CHRIS MATA: I want to make 14:39:20 sure to speak up a little bit more to make sure that everyone does have, is 14:39:24 able to hear me a little bit better. So all right. We are going 14:39:28 to be moving on to the next slide. So 14:39:32 we have a few different options that is all based 14:39:36 off of or depends on a person's eligibility. 14:39:40 So Maryland health connection, we determine eligibility based off 14:39:44 off income and household size. Those are the two main 14:39:48 factors. So individuals can enroll in 14:39:53 either private health insurance were carriers such as care first, 14:39:58 Kaiser Permanente and united healthcare with financial 14:40:02 help to lower the cost. In addition 14:40:06 individuals can also enroll in free or low- 14:40:10 cost dlownch Medicaid or the Maryland children's health 14:40:14 insurance program. You can enroll in Medicaid at any 14:40:18 time of the year if you can qualify, even if you haven't experienced 14:40:22 a life event, Medicaid enrollment is year-round 14:40:31 . So expanding on the free or low 14:40:35 cost coverage that is covered 14:40:39 . One is the Maryland children 14:40:44 or health program. That is for individuals 14:40:48 who fall below a certain income range. To give you an example 14:40:53 , a family of four making less than 14:40:57 $36,581 a year can qualify for free health coverage. 14:41:01 Comparing that with a single individual, 14:41:05 the same would go for them if they are making less than 14:41:10 $17,785 a year. All depending on whether or not 14:41:14 that household or that individual falls below a certain income 14:41:19 range. In addition, we also 14:41:23 offer the private health insurance plans that 14:41:28 work side-by-side with Medicaid and the Maryland children 14:41:32 's health program. With that private 14:41:37 health insurance, there is a very good chance that an individual can qualify 14:41:41 for advanced premium tax credits, which will help lower 14:41:45 the cost of the health insurance premium each month. 14:41:49 And the amount that an individual can save is all going to come 14:41:53 down to those same two factors: Household size and 14:41:57 income. Now, due to recent changes that I 14:42:02 will discuss in more detail, later on in the presentation 14:42:06 , as of April 1st now even more Marylanders are 14:42:10 eligible for financial assistance. Aside from the advanced 14:42:14 premium tax credits which lower the cost of the 14:42:19 premium the exchange also offers a cost sharing reduction. That is 14:42:23 going to specifically target the amount that someone will pay 14:42:27 for out-of-pocket costs. So that can include deductibles 14:42:31 , coinsurance and copayments. One thing to note 14:42:35 is that that cost sharing reduction will only apply to 14:42:40 silver plans. Silver level plans are going to have that extra assistance 14:42:44 built into them. 14:42:48 Now, regardless of what plan you 14:42:53 select through the exchange, whether it is Medicaid, whether it is private 14:42:57 health insurance, there is a list of strap 14:43:01 health benefits that have to be included in every plan offered through 14:43:05 the Maryland health connection. So that is going to include 14:43:10 preventive and wellness care, maternity and newborn care 14:43:14 , New Jersey care, pediatric care, hospitalizations, mental 14:43:19 or behavioral healthcare, prescription drugs, 14:43:23 substance use disorder treatments, doctor visits and lab test 14:43:26 s. Regardless of the level of coverage 14:43:32 you select with the plan you are guaranteed ferred that that 14:43:36 plan is going to include these main health benefits under that plan 14:43:40 . Now, to expand on a specific health 14:43:45 benefit that is covered, preventive care. So 14:43:48 plans through Maryland health connection, they have to cover 14:43:53 preventive care regardless if the individual is an adult or a child. 14:43:57 Without charging a copay or 14:44:01 coinsurance. This is true even if you have a r haven't 14:44:05 melt your deductible. Say an individual does enroll in 14:44:10 a lower coverage plan that may have a my yearly deductible, 14:44:14 they are still entitled to preventive care without being 14:44:18 charged a copay or a coinsurance. One thing 14:44:22 to note, however, is that this service is free only when it is 14:44:26 delivered by a doctor or other provider in the plan's 14:44:30 network. Definitely I recommend researching 14:44:35 the network that your plan works 14:44:40 with to make sure that the benefits that you are entitled to are 14:44:44 covered at little to no cost 14:44:49 . And as a reminder preventive 14:44:54 care includes wellness checks 14:44:58 like your annual check ups, screen 14:45:02 screenings, et cetera. Now we will move into part of the 14:45:07 presentation where we will talk about the recent changes that have 14:45:10 occurred. On April 1st the American rescue 14:45:14 plan was signed. As of April 1st we are offering extra 14:45:18 assistance to Maryland 14:45:23 rest dints to the COVID-19 pandemic. If you or anyone 14:45:27 you know, any family, friends, anyone out in the community who is 14:45:31 uninsured it is definitely worth checking out those health plan option 14:45:35 s now that there are new savings being offered. 14:45:39 In addition, one very important piece of that American rescue 14:45:44 plan is that if an individual is on 14:45:49 unemployment at any time in 2021, regardless if it was only 14:45:54 for a week, a month, maybe a few days of 14:45:58 the year, they can get a health plan for as low as one dollar a 14:46:02 month and get extra savings on other healthcare costs. 14:46:06 It is one of the biggest pieces that was add 14:46:10 ed to the exchange thanks to the American 14:46:15 rescue plan act. In addition, if you didn't qualify 14:46:19 for savings before, before the plan was signed 14:46:23 , you can definitely take another look because now there are 14:46:27 savings available for higher income individuals and family 14:46:31 ies. Those in the past that were ineligible based on their 14:46:35 current household size and income, they may now be 14:46:40 eligible now that the exchange did increase the income that an 14:46:44 individual or a household can earn in order to qualify for assistance 14:46:48 . 14:46:54 One piece to note unfortunately due 14:46:59 to the pandemic, many Maryland residents have 14:47:04 had experience with COBRA due to loss 14:47:08 of employment. Under most circumstances COBRA coverage is 14:47:12 most times more expensive than what you paid while you were working. 14:47:17 Generally a plan offered through Maryland health connection is going 14:47:21 to be a more afortable option. This year it is 14:47:25 a little bit different. Because of the American rescue plan act effect 14:47:31 five April 1, we are 14:47:36 offering help for those with COBRA. The federal government 14:47:40 will pay the health plan directly for 14:47:45 any excess funds in cob 14:47:50 regard r ra. For the next six months, COBRA 14:47:54 enrollees don't have to pay that increased 14:47:58 yum. That will be paid 14:48:01 . If you don't have COBRA, visit the 14:48:08 Maryland health plan, coverage may be free or very 14:48:11 low cost. All right. So the COBRA deadline 14:48:15 in regards to the American rescue plan. It started April 1st. 14:48:20 Under the plan, the rescue plan you can enroll in COBRA 14:48:24 even if you miss the deadline or decided not to enroll during 14:48:28 the 60-day enrollment period. In addition, you can also 14:48:33 enroll if you elected COBRA but later dropped it if you 14:48:37 are still within that original 18-month coverage period. 14:48:41 Now, Maryland health connection, the exchange, we 14:48:45 don't specifically work with COBRA. If you do have any more questions or 14:48:49 need any more information regarding that we always recommend please 14:48:53 contact your former employer for more information 14:48:58 regarding COBRA. Now, 14:49:02 one very important piece for this year 14:49:07 is that the uninsured can enroll 14:49:11 in coverage through August 15 as we are now offering a 14:49:15 special enrollment period due to the coronavirus. 14:49:20 In the past in order to enroll in any qualified health 14:49:24 plan you would either have to wait for open enrollment which was 14:49:28 usually November 1 through settlement 14:49:33 November 1 to December 15, 14:49:37 only about a month and a half. You have to have 14:49:42 a 14:49:46 . You can enroll at any time through 14:49:50 August 15 due to the coronavirus state of emergency. 14:49:55 So again coinld special enrollment 14:49:59 period is now through August 15. Specifically 14:50:04 , open enrollment like I explained before, that is November 14:50:08 1 through December 15, open enrollment is going to be primarily 14:50:12 for those who have enrolled in coverage and are looking to renew 14:50:16 their coverage or change their existing plan to a different plan 14:50:23 effective 2022, January 1st. As I explained 14:50:27 before Medicaid is year around. If a consumer is Medicaid 14:50:31 eligible they don't have to worry about qualifying for any special 14:50:34 enrollment period. In particular, the special 14:50:38 enrollment periods outside of COVID-19 are what we 14:50:43 call significant life events. You would have 60 days from that life 14:50:47 event to qualify for these other special enrollment period 14:50:51 s. Those life events can be losing a 14:50:55 job-based coverage, getting married or divorced, moving to Maryland from 14:51:00 a different state, for young adults 14:51:04 once they turn 26 and can no longer continue under 14:51:08 their parents' plans. That is considered a special enrollment period 14:51:12 as well. Of course, if a consumer is losing their COBRA 14:51:16 coverage, they are unable to enroll via the special enrollment 14:51:20 period. Now, one of the main messages that 14:51:25 I did want to share is the different options we have to enroll. Now 14:51:29 , due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Montgomery 14:51:33 county we are not offering assistance in person. So all of the 14:51:37 assistance that we are currently providing is virtual. As always we 14:51:42 have our website, Maryland health connection.gov where you are able to 14:51:46 enroll in coverage, compare plans, get estimates, general information 14:51:50 . It is a very, very useful 14:51:53 resource. In addition, we also have the state 14:51:57 call center. So for those who do not live in monlt 14:52:02 Montgomery county who live in other Counties but 14:52:06 are Maryland residents call 14:52:10 1- 14:52:15 (855)642-8572, that is the call center. 14:52:19 Deaf and hard of hearing can use the Relay Service and help is available in 14:52:23 200 languages. In addition to calling that phone 14:52:27 number, you can download the free enroll MH 14:52:31 C mobile app to enroll if you are more comfortable 14:52:35 or prefer to use a mobile device instead of a 14:52:39 computer or laptop. Navigators are 14:52:43 available throughout the state to answer questions and help you enroll 14:52:47 over the phone. So when you are ready to enroll, 14:52:51 there are a few pieces of information that are required in order to 14:52:55 apply. We are going to need photo ID. Date of 14:53:00 birth for all family members who are looking to apply. 14:53:04 Social Security numbers or document numbers for legal 14:53:08 immigrants. Any relevant immigration or 14:53:12 citizenship information. Employer and income information. And 14:53:16 any information that you may have about your current health 14:53:21 insurance which can include job related coverage for either 14:53:25 yourself or anyone in your household who may be eligible. 14:53:29 All right. Now, for this next half 14:53:33 of the presentation I kind of wanted 14:53:37 to focus a little bit more on the different ways we can help 14:53:41 , not only you all but Maryland residents in general 14:53:45 . So as you can see we are basically 14:53:50 organized by different connector entities. I myself, 14:53:54 I am representing the capitol north entity 14:53:58 , Montgomery county health connection. That does not mean that 14:54:02 there aren't other connector entities in the whole 14:54:07 state that have their own team of navigators that can provide 14:54:11 assistance to you. The navigators work throughout the state. As long as 14:54:15 you are a Maryland resident you can take advantage of the service that is 14:54:19 our navigators provide. And this is just a 14:54:25 quick, during one of our Zoom meetings we took a photo. This 14:54:29 is our team. Usually we have a team of about ten to 14:54:33 12 navigators. If you are to call our call center, either one of 14:54:37 us will be more than happy to provide you with any assistance that 14:54:41 you may need. As of now most of 14:54:46 our support is virtual. So we have adapted to 14:54:49 savely provide support from the comfort of your home. 14:54:53 So assistance is provided over the phone. We are available to provide 14:54:57 one-on-one support and answer any questions. And of course, 14:55:01 online we can also walk you through the enrollment process if 14:55:06 you choose to enroll via Maryland health connection 14:55:10 connection.gov. And these are just a 14:55:14 few key telephone numbers I would like to share. These are going to be 14:55:18 specific to Montgomery county. We have 14:55:23 the government call center, if you have any questions 14:55:26 regarding services or benefits offered by the County. 14:55:30 One number I wanted to emphasize is the Montgomery county 14:55:35 health connection call center. That's our 14:55:40 (240)777-1815 number. And that number is specifically if 14:55:45 you would like to speak with a Montgomery county navigator 14:55:49 . Usually the wait times are a little bit lower compared to the state call 14:55:51 center. If you are having trouble getting 14:55:55 through to the 855 number, please feel 14:56:00 free to give us a call at the 240 number and we 14:56:03 are more than glad to assist you. This will be general information 14:56:07 about the different regions and the different connector entities in the 14:56:12 state. We have their phone number and their website for all of the 14:56:16 different counties in Maryland. 14:56:20 So we will see, you have quite a number of connector entity 14:56:24 ies throughout the state. 14:56:30 And lastly, I would just like to 14:56:34 thank you all for the opportunity to be with you all today. 14:56:38 Again, I am the program supervisor from 14:56:42 Montgomery county health connection. That is my email if you ever need to 14:56:46 contact me. I believe that is all for today. 14:56:50 The next section or slide that we have is the Q&A portion 14:56:54 . If there is any questions that anyone has for 14:56:58 today. >> SARAH BASEHART: Did anyone have 14:57:02 any questions? There weren't any more in the chat. I did put the phone 14:57:06 number for the Maryland health connection in the chat as well as the 14:57:09 website. Were there any other questions for 14:57:13 Chris? It was very thorough and good, 14:57:17 Chris. Thank you so much. >> CHRIS MATA: Thank you very much 14:57:23 . >> SARAH BASEHART: No? 14:57:25 Debbie, did you have anything else 14:57:29 to add as we close out? >> DEBBIE FEIERMAN: No. I'm just, 14:57:33 I wanted to thank everybody for taking time out of their day to 14:57:38 spend some time with us. And also we are very interest 14:57:42 ed in knowing whether or not the information is helpful 14:57:46 to you, to those that you serve in the community, and ways 14:57:50 that we might be able to improve. You will see here there is 14:57:55 a website, a link 14:57:59 CMS.gov.force.com 14:58:05 /act/evaluation. That will take you right to 14:58:09 an evaluation to give us some 14:58:13 feedback about this. We also, if you have an iPhone, 14:58:18 one of these little -- if you have your phone and you want to take 14:58:22 a symbol of this it too will take you right to an online 14:58:27 evaluation which is completely anonymous but will give us feedback 14:58:31 on whether or not we are providing helpful 14:58:36 information. That is the goal is to be public servant 14:58:40 s and provide you with information that helps you serve your community and 14:58:44 helps you in your service 14:58:46 . >> SARAH BASEHART: You want to put 14:58:50 that slide up, Debbie? It is not -- did you have a slide that -- 14:58:51 >> DEBBIE FEIERMAN: It is not up? 14:58:56 Oh, sorry. Yeah, let me 14:58:59 share my screen. I'm sorry, I thought I had it up. 14:59:01 >> SARAH BASEHART: Mike, do you have a question? 14:59:05 >> MICHAEL BULLIS: I had a question for Debbie, I get emails with your 14:59:09 name on it quite often. I don't know how I 14:59:15 got on that list, but that's 14:59:19 useful information. How do you, how do people 14:59:23 get on the Debbie Feierman 14:59:26 email list? >> DEBBIE FEIERMAN: I remember 14:59:31 your name. Sarah shared early on, in addition to doing 14:59:35 education and providing resources and presenting tastes, developing 14:59:39 partnerships with organizations that serve our constituency 14:59:43 . So I work a lot with the state health information and assistance 14:59:48 programs, the State Departments of health, and any of their 14:59:53 little constituents or other state services 14:59:54 . So of course, the disability 14:59:59 community, since Medicare does cover the disabled community, we 15:00:03 look to ARCs and CILs and dialysis 15:00:07 and anyway that we can partner with other organizations 15:00:11 that also perform a service for those we serve. 15:00:15 So I do a little search and I find 15:00:19 out who is serving the disabled community. 15:00:23 That's how I got to Sarah. She was 15:00:27 most hospitable in discussing whatever problems she was having 15:00:34 with Medicaid or Medicare. She talked about this meeting 15:00:37 and we asked for an opportunity to present. 15:00:42 Because honestly, we don't often -- well 15:00:46 , now, of course this past year we haven't been out a lot. This 15:00:50 is a great way, in some ways, to meet more people 15:00:54 where otherwise I would be driving around Maryland looking for people 15:00:58 to meet. So I'm glad you want to stay on, 15:01:02 Michael. Sometimes I get: Please take me off this distribution. I hope 15:01:06 you find it helpful. >> MICHAEL BULLIS: I do find it 15:01:09 very helpful. Nice to meet you. >> DEBBIE FEIERMAN: Thank you so 15:01:14 much. >> SARAH BASEHART: Much thank you 15:01:18 to Chris and Debbie for presenting today and sharing so much good 15:01:22 information. Mike, I'm going to have to bolt out 15:01:26 to pick up kids. My new schedule. So if you wouldn't 15:01:30 mind fielding any additional questions? I'm not sure 15:01:34 there are any since we covered all the vaccine clinics, but there 15:01:38 may be other announcements. >> MICHAEL BULLIS: Thank you very 15:01:42 much, Sarah and thank you to everyone who listened to the program today. 15:01:46 Let's see if there are any community announcements. Anyone 15:01:50 has community announcements about your organization and what you are up to 15:01:54 these days so we can make sure that the world knows about them? 15:02:00 >> Rita from Maryland Relay post 15:02:05 ed an upcoming webinar, a link to that. I don't know if she is 15:02:09 still here an wants to chime in. >> Hi, everyone 15:02:13 . This is Tr 15:02:17 a -- Tarita. We have 15:02:21 upcoming webinars open to the general public. Feel 15:02:25 free to stop on in. My email address is also in the chat. 15:02:29 It is the simpler version 15:02:33 is Tarita 15:02:39 @MDrelay 15:02:43 .org. So feel free if you have questions, 15:02:47 I know that you guys also got Kevin's 15:02:51 information. He did an amazing presentation awhile ago. You guys 15:02:55 are covered. >> MICHAEL BULLIS: Tarita, thank 15:02:59 you so much. We are glad to get the information out. As you have 15:03:03 new events, let us know. Let me ask, I want to switch 15:03:07 subjects a little bit with folks. One of the vaccine groups that we 15:03:11 are trying to reach out to and if you have anyone to refer to us, please 15:03:16 do so. That is folks from the behavioral 15:03:20 health disability community. Anybody who is -- 15:03:24 I they we are going to start doing some specific outreach to those groups 15:03:28 . But we aren't getting a lot of feedback from the 15:03:33 community, the behavioral health community, about who 15:03:37 is vaccinated and who is not. We understand that a lot of 15:03:41 people get vaccinated and are not being tracked, that's fine 15:03:46 . But we want to reach out to that community. If you have behavioral 15:03:49 health conditions that you want to make and you are trying to fight for a 15:03:54 vaccine, we have potential for some clinics coming up that 15:03:57 might be pointed right at you. Please let us know. 15:04:00 Any other announcements for the good of the order? 15:04:04 Do we have, by the way, Heather, do we have a show next week? Is that 15:04:07 the first week of our open discussion? 15:04:10 >> HEATHER COMSTOCK: No, we do -- yes, we have a show next week, I'm 15:04:15 sorry. We have a show and we have a topic. Give me one second. I will 15:04:19 pull up, it is another -- 15:04:20 >> MICHAEL BULLIS: Beginning in 15:04:24 May we are going to do an experiment, so you know. We are going 15:04:28 to do shows where we open the floor to discussion about disability issues. 15:04:33 This is your opportunity to sort of be the show, if you will. But we 15:04:37 want to have some discussions with one another. I'm sure 15:04:41 I'll come with some topics, but really the 15:04:45 show is going to be yours. Be thinking about that in May. It is an 15:04:49 experiment where we instead of talking at you or having people talk at you 15:04:53 for the whole show, where we let you talk to even other and to the rest of 15:04:57 the community. So it should be very interesting. 15:05:01 A lot of fun. A little scary. That's life. 15:05:05 We will be looking forward to having you with us to do that. 15:05:09 >> HEATHER COMSTOCK: Okay. I am 15:05:14 pasting that in the chat. And we 15:05:18 have, Sarah organized this. We have some professionals with 15:05:22 expertise in spinal cord injuries on COVID vaccines 15:05:26 and people with spinal cord injury 15:05:31 ies sharing their personal vaccine stories. Dr. 15:05:35 Suzanne G 15:05:39 roah and Dr. Terrence Sheehan 15:05:44 , Ian Ruder, 15:05:49 and Dr. Michaels from RFI and Michael Saunders 15:05:54 , as people with spinal cord injury 15:05:57 injuries who received the vaccine. >> MICHAEL BULLIS: Each of them 15:06:00 gets 20 seconds? >> HEATHER COMSTOCK: Maybe. 15:06:04 >> MICHAEL BULLIS: We'll be glad to hear from that community next week. 15:06:05 >> HEATHER COMSTOCK: Somebody has 15:06:10 their -- it is like an initial, JA 15:06:14 UK ward? Has their hand up. Did you want to ask 15:06:17 a question or have an announcement to make? 15:06:21 >> Yes, it is 15:06:25 Joe awkward with the freedom center. You did mention that you don't try 15:06:30 to do a general outreach to behavioral health 15:06:35 community. So just to clarify that, would you say that's folks that 15:06:40 are with disabilities that may lean towards the behavioral 15:06:43 or -- >> MICHAEL BULLIS: Sure, mental 15:06:45 health conditions of one kind or another. 15:06:49 >> Right. Just want to have kind of a unique outreach to 15:06:53 make sure that all of us are reaching out to that community? Thank you. 15:06:56 That clarifies that. >> MICHAEL BULLIS: We are trying 15:07:00 to reach out to that community and let them know about this. We have, 15:07:04 starting in May we are probably going to have every week three or four 15:07:08 different vaccine clinics around Baltimore and in the 15:07:12 region you will the way out into Harford county. We want to make 15:07:16 sure we are reaching out to the community and let them know to 15:07:20 take their opportunity to get vaccinated prafl freedom. 15:07:24 >> Hi, Mike. It is Nadine from the freedom center 15:07:28 . I put some information into the chat about our audio book 15:07:32 club. We are asking everyone to join us if you have a few minutes. Every 15:07:37 Tuesday at 4:00 p.m., 4 to 5. Read the book -- 15:07:41 not read the book, we listen to the book and then have a discussion about 15:07:45 the book. Right now we are doing Alice Wong's 15:07:50 disability visibility. If you have time, join us. The link is right 15:07:52 there. >> MICHAEL BULLIS: Cool, 15:07:56 excellent. If you are into book clubs, that's the place to be. Is that 15:08:00 a book available on audible? >> Yes, it is 15:08:01 . >> MICHAEL BULLIS: I'm an audible 15:08:05 member. I get three books from audible every month. 15:08:08 >> We might use you to get some free books 15:08:11 (Laughter.) >> MICHAEL BULLIS: I don't get any 15:08:16 free books, sadly. But I have been an audible member 15:08:20 since before they invented audio recording. Yeah, it was 15:08:24 very lonely there for a while. All right, thank you all 15:08:28 very much. Anyone else have anything for the good of the group today? 15:08:32 >> Hey, Mike, sharing reduction is Bong. Can you 15:08:36 hear me? I think he hopped off because I don't see him anymore. I 15:08:40 was going to kind of throw him in the mix. I believe he is a new 15:08:44 staff member for the freedom center, Dave, correct me if I'm wrong. But 15:08:49 Chuck? >> Nadine 15:08:54 : Chuck is part-time and he is one of the newest ones. 15:08:58 He may have jumped off. >> BONG: What I was going 15:09:02 to say is, Mike, if there is a way he can be 15:09:06 included in next week's discussion, maybe you can reach out to him 15:09:10 , Mike or Nadine, in general his story is -- 15:09:14 >> Amazing, it is amazing. I only heard part of it 15:09:18 . I'm already in love. >> See, I know him from the peer 15:09:23 mentoring group at Kernan. It is amazing 15:09:26 stuff. >> Nadine: And he's excited about 15:09:30 his new job. >> Yes, he talks about the freedom 15:09:32 center every Tuesday (Laughter.) 15:09:36 >> MICHAEL BULLIS: If you work to the free -- for the freedom 15:09:40 center and you like your job, you shumed donate. 15:09:43 (Overlapping speakers.) >> He never said anything bad about 15:09:46 Dave. >> MICHAEL BULLIS: That's why you 15:09:50 should dough 98 money. >> Is my 15:09:53 video on? >> Remember, if you work at the 15:09:58 freedom center it's probably because you can't work other places and it 15:10:00 is kind of a donation that you are working there 15:10:02 (Laughter.) >> MICHAEL BULLIS: Oh! 15:10:06 >> that's how we pay you, that's right. 15:10:08 >> Just for the privilege of being there. 15:10:12 >> Privilege of being there. >> I asked my boss one time 15:10:16 years and years ago, how come I'm 15:10:20 not paid what I'm worth? He said because there's a 15:10:22 minimum wage (Laughter.) 15:10:26 >> Oh, my goodness. >> Mike told me that. 15:10:30 I was part of his staff. >> MICHAEL BULLIS: I probably did. 15:10:33 Anything else before we get off of here today, folks? 15:10:36 I want to thank you all very much. This is our opportunity to connect to 15:10:40 the disability community. We really appreciate everything that you do to 15:10:44 make this program work. When you get your announcement about next 15:10:48 week's program there is an opportunity there for you to donate, please know 15:10:52 those donations is what makes all of this possible. We can't do this 15:10:56 without you. I know you get a lot of people asking you for money but there 15:11:00 nlt much closer to how you and I progress over the next 15:11:04 five, ten, 20 years than the independent living community. Be part 15:11:09 of it, be part of us and donate when you can 15:11:11 . With that, broadcast is done for