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<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<h1 align="center" style="margin-top:12.0pt;text-align:center"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:windowtext">Medicare Information to Become Accessible to Blind Beneficiaries<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<p class="MsoSubtitle" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:windowtext">Blind Americans Reach Agreement with CMS on Accessibility of Medicare Information<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Baltimore, Maryland (April 25, 2018):</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> The National Federation of the Blind and three blind individuals
have reached a settlement agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The settlement resolves the allegation brought forth in a 2016 lawsuit that CMS discriminated against blind and low-vision
beneficiaries by failing to provide meaningful and equal access to Medicare information.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The agreement requires that CMS set up processes so that beneficiaries can make a single request to receive all communications and notices from Medicare in an accessible format,
such as large print, Braille, audio, or electronic data. Additional terms include that CMS will:
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Provide accessible, fillable forms for beneficiaries on Medicare.gov.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Issue accessibility best practices to Medicare Health and Drug Plans.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Implement a policy that extends the time in which a beneficiary must answer time-sensitive communications by the number of days it takes CMS to process the beneficiary’s
accessible format request. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Develop a plan to promote the availability of accessible materials to Medicare beneficiaries.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">CMS has already begun implementing critical procedural changes that include training employees on compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation act of 1973, implementing
testing requirements to ensure that information posted on Medicare.gov is accessible, providing CMS’s most popular publications in accessible e-book formats at Medicare.gov, and establishing a Customer Accessibility Resource Staff to coordinate and support
CMS’s accessible Medicare communications. The agreement prohibits CMS from changing any of these new practices in ways that would result in less effective access to Medicare information for blind individuals.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Thousands of blind and low-vision people depend on Medicare benefits and must be able to apply for, understand, and manage those benefits independently,” said Mark Riccobono,
President of the National Federation of the Blind. “This agreement will ensure that blind Medicare beneficiaries have equal access to critical and often time-sensitive information about their individual benefits and this vital program.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"The Medicare benefits a person receives are only as good as the access they have to them,” said Silvia Yee, senior staff attorney for the Disability Rights Education & Defense
Fund. “Without equal access to vital Medicare information, blind people not only face greater difficulty getting their health care needs met, they also run a higher risk of losing services and supports altogether when they can't properly access details about
Medicare plan benefits, review services provided, or confirm how much those services will cost. DREDF applauds this necessary step forward by CMS in providing Americans who are blind --including thousands of aging low-vision Medicare beneficiaries--access
to necessary information that non-disabled people get to take for granted.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The plaintiffs were represented by Brown, Goldstein & Levy LLP and the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF).</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">###<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">About the National Federation of the Blind
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), headquartered in Baltimore, is the oldest and largest nationwide organization of blind Americans. Founded in 1940, the NFB consists
of affiliates, chapters, and divisions in the fifty states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico. The NFB defends the rights of blind people of all ages and provides information and support to families with blind children, older Americans who are losing vision,
and more. We believe in the hopes and dreams of blind people and work together to transform them into reality. Learn more about our many programs and initiatives at
</span><a href="http://www.nfb.org"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">www.nfb.org</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">About Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF):
</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Founded in 1979, t<span style="color:#222222;background:white">he Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund </span>is a leading national civil rights law and policy center directed
by individuals with disabilities and parents who have children with disabilities. DREDF works to advance the civil and human rights of people with disabilities through legal advocacy, training, education, and public policy and legislative development. Learn
more about DREDF's work at: </span><a href="http://dredf.org"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">dredf.org</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">CONTACT:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chris Danielsen<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Director of Public Relations<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">National Federation of the Blind<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">(410) 659-9314, extension 2330<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">(410) 262-1281 (Cell)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:cdanielsen@nfb.org"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">cdanielsen@nfb.org</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Lawrence Carter-Long<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Communications Director<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">(510) 644-2555, extension 5256<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:LCarterLong@dredf.org"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">LCarterLong@dredf.org</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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