Smyrna, DE – The Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) and Delaware State Police will conduct a quarterly test of the Salem/Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Stations Alert and Notification system on Tuesday, October 6, 2020.  The sirens will sound at around 10:45 a.m.

The 37 sirens located within ten miles of the Salem/Hope Creek (New Jersey) plants will be activated for three to five minutes.  The siren tests will be followed by a test message of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) on local radio stations. 

Sirens that will be tested are the same sirens used to alert the public in the event of an actual emergency at either the Salem or Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Stations.  In such an emergency, the public would be alerted by the sirens to tune their radios to one of the local EAS stations for important emergency instructions.

Additionally, the potassium iodide (KI) distribution event scheduled for October 1, 2020 has been cancelled due to COVID-19.  Any residents living within the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) may contact DEMA at (302)659-3362 if they are in need of KI tablets.

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Contact: Jeff Sands, Delaware Emergency Management Agency, 302-659-2211.

Eligible Households Will Be Reimbursed Through September for Cost of Meals That Would Have Been Available in Schools

NEW CASTLE (Sept. 30, 2020) – The Division of Social Services received federal approval Sept. 25 to extend benefits under the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program to cover the months of August and September. P-EBT was authorized by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to provide assistance to families with children who are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals.

The P-EBT program provides a supplemental food-purchasing benefit to current Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) households and a new EBT benefit to eligible non-SNAP households to offset the cost of meals that would have otherwise been available at school.

P-EBT benefits will be issued to all eligible households on Sept. 30.

The approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture extends the benefits initially approved and issued starting in spring 2020 in response to Delaware’s state of emergency ordered during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the current state of emergency declaration, Delaware’s schools are open, but most are operating under remote learning for the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year.

The recent approval allows Delaware to extend the benefits through September to households with school-aged children who are participating in remote learning for five consecutive days and do not have access to free meals at their schools.

Households with children participating in remote learning must also meet one of the following conditions to receive P-EBT:

• The household includes children who are certified to receive free or reduced-price school meals for the 2020-2021 school year, or;
• The household includes children who attend schools that offer free school meals to all students (Community Eligibility or Provision 2 schools) for the 2020-2021 school year.

For the 2020-2021 school year, approximately 81,000 children attending Delaware schools are eligible to receive P-EBT benefits. The P-EBT benefits will be issued as a supplement to SNAP households on their existing EBT cards and to non-SNAP households on their existing P-EBT cards from the 2019-2020 school year. Non-SNAP households who became eligible for P-EBT for the 2020-2021 school year will automatically receive a new P-EBT card in the mail for all eligible children in their household along with details on how to use the card.

Delaware will follow the P-EBT benefit guidance provided by the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. The P-EBT benefit amount equals the federal reimbursement rate for breakfast and lunch of $5.86 per child per eligible school day. P-EBT benefit amounts will vary based on school start dates and remote learning schedules. P-EBT benefits can only be issued to children who attend schools that are participating in the P-EBT program.

P-EBT Issuance Details

Each eligible child in a household will receive $5.86 in P-EBT benefits for each eligible school day in August and September that their child’s school was operating under remote learning.
P-EBT benefits will be issued to all eligible households on Sept. 30, 2020. Households with an EBT or P-EBT card will automatically receive their benefits on their card for all of the eligible children in their household. It may take up to two weeks for newly eligible households to receive their P-EBT cards in the mail.

“The P-EBT program helps to keep Delaware families healthy and their children fed during this national emergency,” said Department of Health and Social Services Secretary Molly Magarik. “This additional support is critically important as families continue to cope with the health and education challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Eligible households will receive written notification in the mail regarding P-EBT benefits for August and September.

Please contact the Division of Social Services at 1-866-843-7212 if you have questions about Delaware’s P-EBT Program.

Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced Wednesday that Delaware has joined a total $39.5 million settlement with Anthem stemming from the massive 2014 data breach that involved the personal information of 78.8 million Americans. Through the settlement, Anthem has reached a resolution with the 43-state multistate coalition and California. The DOJ’s Consumer Protection Unit helped secure the settlement.

In February 2015, Anthem disclosed that cyber attackers had infiltrated its systems beginning in February 2014, using malware installed through a phishing email. The attackers were ultimately able to gain access to Anthem’s data warehouse, where they harvested names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, healthcare identification numbers, home addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, and employment information for 78.8 million Americans. In Delaware, approximately 62,000 residents were affected by the breach.

“Companies, like Anthem, that collect and maintain personal information have a duty to maintain its security and privacy,” said Attorney General Jennings. “Anthem breached that trust and today my office, together with other attorneys general, is holding it accountable.”

Under the settlement, Anthem has agreed to a series of provisions designed to strengthen its security practices going forward. Those include:

• A prohibition against misrepresentations regarding the extent to which Anthem protects the privacy and security of personal information;
• Implementation of a comprehensive information security program, incorporating principles of zero trust architecture, and including regular security reporting to the Board of Directors and prompt notice of significant security events to the CEO;
• Specific security requirements with respect to segmentation, logging and monitoring, anti-virus maintenance, access controls and two factor authentication, encryption, risk assessments, penetration testing, and employee training, among other requirements; and
• Third-party security assessments and audits for three (3) years, as well as a requirement that Anthem make its risk assessments available to a third-party assessor during that term.

In the immediate wake of the breach, at the request of the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General, Anthem offered an initial two years of credit monitoring to all affected U.S. individuals.

Delaware will receive $162,707.05 from the settlement which will go to the state’s Consumer Protection Fund. In addition to the payment, Anthem has also agreed to a series of data security and good governance provisions designed to strengthen its practices going forward.

In addition to this settlement, Anthem previously entered into a class action settlement that established a $115 million settlement fund to pay for additional credit monitoring, cash payments of up to $50, and reimbursement for out-of-pocket losses for affected consumers. The deadlines for consumers to submit claims under that settlement have since passed.

NEW CASTLE (Sept. 29, 2020) – Adult Delawareans who receive Medicaid will automatically get dental coverage as part of their plan starting Oct. 1.

Governor John Carney signed legislation establishing the Medicaid adult dental benefit in August 2019. Implementation was originally scheduled for April 2020, but was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Beginning Oct. 1, individuals ages 19-65 who are enrolled in a managed care Medicaid plan will receive their adult dental services through that plan and can obtain a list of providers from their managed care organization. About 200,000 of the 235,000 Medicaid clients (adults and children) in Delaware are served by one of two managed care organizations, Highmark Health Options Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware and AmeriHealth Caritas Delaware.

Adults who are enrolled in fee-for-service (FFS) Medicaid will receive their adult dental services through that program and may obtain a list of providers from the Department of Health and Social Services’ (DHSS) Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance by contacting the Delaware Health Benefits Manager at 1-800-996-9969.

The benefit will cover a wide variety of services, including exams, cleanings, fillings, sedation, and regular tooth extractions. It will cover $1,000 of dental care per year; an additional $1,500 per year may be available for qualifying emergency or supplemental care when medically necessary.

In an emergency order issued Sept. 25, Governor Carney suspended the $3 per visit co-pay for adult dental treatments during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Adult Medicaid patients will not be charged the co-pay while the state of emergency remains in effect, and dental providers will not have their payments reduced by $3 but will be paid the full allowable amount by the Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance.

Individuals who receive services through the Division of Developmental Disabilities Services (DDDS) may be eligible for additional dental coverage once they exhaust their Medicaid benefit.

Adult dental coverage is optional for state Medicaid programs, but most offer at least an emergency dental benefit. In Delaware, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provide no-cost or low-cost health coverage for eligible children.

“We know that low-income adults suffer disproportionately from dental disease, and that poor oral health can increase risks for people with conditions like diabetes and heart disease,” said DHSS Secretary Molly Magarik. “This new benefit will go a long way toward improving the overall health of Medicaid recipients in Delaware.”

“It has been our longstanding priority to offer preventive and restorative dental treatment for adults, to address negative health outcomes associated with the lack of oral health care,” said Steve Groff, Director of DHSS’ Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance. “With this benefit, adults on Medicaid will have access to affordable dental coverage.”

One-hundred-twenty-five dentists have signed up to participate in the adult Medicaid program – 87 in New Castle County, 18 in Kent County and 20 in Sussex County.

More information about the Medicaid adult dental benefit is available at the division’s website or by calling 1-866-843-7212.

In addition to the start of the dental benefit for adults, October also marks the annual open enrollment period for Medicaid in Delaware, during which individuals can make changes to their managed care plan. Open enrollment runs Oct. 1-31. Call 1-800-996-9969 for more information.

Attorney General Jennings announced Tuesday that the Delaware Department of Justice’s Investor Protection Unit is participating in a consolidated nationwide enforcement action to disrupt a fraudulent precious metals scheme that has solicited more than $180 million from seniors and other investors.

The Delaware Department of Justice, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and 29 other states filed a petition in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas alleging that Metals.com “had a reckless disregard for the truth that virtually every one of their … investors … lost the majority of the funds invested in fraudulently overpriced Precious Metals Bullion.”

“The defendants solicited millions of dollars from seniors and other vulnerable investors nationwide, including in Delaware, by touting precious metals at grossly inflated prices,” said Attorney General Jennings. “They took advantage of investor fear of market instability and economic uncertainty, and as a result, investors suffered losses from retirement savings.”

The complaint names TMTE Inc., also known as Metals.com, Chase Metals Inc., Chase Metals LLC, Barrick Capital Inc., Simon Batashvili, Lucas Asher, and Tower Equity LLC. The unregistered Beverly Hills, California-based firm and its sales representatives are accused of targeting elderly investors through traditional and social media, providing unregistered investment advisory services designed to “instill fear in elderly and retirement-aged investors and build trust with investors based on representations of political or religious affinity,” according to the complaint. Investors were advised to liquidate their holdings at registered investment firms to fund investments in precious metals through self-directed individual retirement accounts and bullion coins, the complaint said.

The defendants also are accused of failing to disclose, among other things, what Metals.com and Barrick charged investors for their precious metals bullion products and that investors could lose the majority of their funds immediately upon completing a transaction. The defendants charged investors prices for gold or silver bullion averaging from 100% to more than 300% the melt value or spot price of that gold or silver bullion. In many cases, the market value of the precious metals sold to investors was substantially lower than the value of the securities and other retirement savings investors had liquidated to fund their purchase.

The complaint requests the Court order the defendants to cease sales activity, return money to investors, and stop defrauding investors and violating federal and state laws going forward. The complaint also requests that a receiver be appointed to take over the companies to marshal funds for the benefit of investors across the country.

Metals.com and its agents have been under regulatory scrutiny for the past two years. Prior to today’s action, 12 states have taken separate enforcement actions against the firm and its sales representatives. Despite these regulator measures, the firm, in new iterations, continued to prey on elderly investors. Today’s coordinated state and federal action was a result of a multi-state collaboration by members of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), of which the Delaware Department of Justice’s Investor Protection Unit is a member, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Office of Cooperative Enforcement.

The Investor Protection Unit encourages investors to come forward if they suspect they have been targeted by similar precious metals investment schemes. Please contact the Investor Protection Unit at investor.protection@delaware.gov.