Good morning,
Governor Hogan renewed the State of Emergency on December 23, 2020. You can read the Proclamation here.
Economic Impact Payments: Legislation enacted on December 27, 2020, provides that the new stimulus payments to individuals will not be withheld to pay federal debts or to pay state child support enforcement orders and cannot be garnished by debt collectors.
Health Insurance Open Enrollment: Citing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Hogan announced Monday that the state’s special health insurance enrollment period will be reopened in January and extended through mid-March 2021. Eligible residents who did not participate in the state’s extended special enrollment period in 2020 may now opt-in to Medicaid or private health coverage plans through the Maryland Health Connection.
To enroll in health insurance through the marketplace:
1) Go online to MarylandHealthConnection.gov
2) Call 1-855-642-8572 to speak to someone who will walk you through this process.
Student Loans: The automatic suspension of principal and interest payments on federally held student loans has been extended and will expire on January 31, 2021.
Lifeline: Lifeline is a federal program that provides discounts for limited income consumers on their telephone and internet services. In Maryland the program is called Tel‐Life. See the attachment to learn more about Lifeline services and how to apply. As the program phases out monthly support for voice only in favor of broadband support, beginning December 1, 2020 Lifeline has lowered the voice-only support to $5.25.
Training: If you would like the Office of People's Counsel to provide free training to your organization on the current state of utilities, in depth look at OHEP applications, or little known utility consumer protections please feel free to reach out to me and we can discuss your agency needs.
If you are struggling to pay your utility bill there may be resources available to help.
- Office of Home Energy Programs
- Office of People’s Counsel Community Resource Guides
- Call 2-1-1 for information about other financial assistance resources in your community