Bill Text: HI SB2605 | 2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Oral Health; Dentists; Public Schools; Medicaid; Appropriations
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-03-08 - (H) Referred to HLT/HUS, FIN, referral sheet 41 [SB2605 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2012-SB2605-Amended.html
|
THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2605 |
|
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012 |
S.D. 1 |
|
|
STATE OF HAWAII |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||
A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO ORAL HEALTH.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
PART I
SECTION 1. In The State of Children's Dental Health: Making Coverage Matter, the Pew Center on the States gave our State an "F" for its performance in the area of children's dental health. Hawaii met only one of the report's eight policy benchmarks aimed at improving children's dental health, making our State the worst overall performer among the fifty states and the District of Columbia. The legislature finds that our State should be doing more to improve the dental health of our children.
The 2001 edition of the Hawaii Health Performance Plan (Plan) supports the Pew Center's assessment of the poor overall dental health of Hawaii's children. The Plan cites state department of health research from 1986 that demonstrated that greater than seventy-two per cent of six- to eight-year-old children in Hawaii had one or more dental caries. At the time, the national average for six- to eight-year-old children was thirty-five per cent. The state department of health research further showed that nearly sixteen per cent of five-year-old children in Hawaii had baby bottle tooth decay, as compared to five per cent of five-year-old children in the continental United States.
The purpose of this part is to improve the dental health of Hawaii's children by:
(1) Increasing public awareness of oral health through education programs provided by the department of health and cooperating public and private agencies; and
(2) Appropriating moneys to establish and implement an electronic system to track data on children's dental health.
SECTION 2. (a) The department of health shall cooperate with public and private organizations to educate the public about:
(1) Baby bottle tooth decay, including the dangers and risks posed by baby bottle tooth decay, as well as methods of prevention;
(2) Topical fluoride varnish for children greater than six months of age but not exceeding four years of age;
(3) Sealants for children between and years of age; and
(4) Regular annual dental visits for children not exceeding eighteen years of age.
(b) For the purposes of this part:
"Baby bottle tooth decay" means any tooth decay in children not exceeding four years of age.
"Fluoride varnish" means an adherent material composed of a high concentration of fluoride and a fast drying, alcohol and resin-based solution.
"Sealants" refers to the application of material on the surfaces of the teeth to prevent bacteria from lodging in the pits and grooves of the teeth.
SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2012-2013 for establishing and implementing an electronic system to track data on children's dental health.
The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of health for the purposes of this Act.
PART II
SECTION 4. The purpose of this part is to improve the oral health of individuals who receive medical assistance through QUEST or the QUEST expanded access program by increasing payments to dentists who provide dental services to those individuals.
SECTION 5. Section 346-59, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§346-59 Medical care payments. (a) The department shall adopt rules under chapter 91 concerning payment to providers of medical care. The department shall determine the rates of payment due to all providers of medical care, and pay such amounts in accordance with the requirements of the appropriations act and the Social Security Act, as amended. Payments to critical access hospitals for services rendered to medicaid beneficiaries shall be calculated on a cost basis using medicare reasonable cost principles.
(b) Rates of payment to providers of medical care who are individual practitioners, including doctors of medicine, dentists, podiatrists, psychologists, osteopaths, optometrists, and other individuals providing services, shall be based upon the Hawaii medicaid fee schedule. The amounts paid shall not exceed the maximum permitted to be paid individual practitioners or other individuals under federal law and regulation, the medicare fee schedule for the current year, the state limits as provided in the appropriation act, or the provider's billed amount.
The appropriation act shall indicate the percentage of the medicare fee schedule for the year 2000 to be used as the basis for establishing the Hawaii medicaid fee schedule. For any subsequent adjustments to the fee schedule, the legislature shall specify the extent of the adjustment in the appropriation act.
(c) In establishing the payment rates for other noninstitutional items and services, the rates shall not exceed the current medicare payment, the state limits as provided in the appropriation act, the rate determined by the department, or the provider's billed amount.
(d) Payments to health maintenance organizations and prepaid health plans with which the department executes risk contracts for the provision of medical care to eligible public assistance recipients may be made on a prepaid basis. The rate of payment per participating recipient shall be fixed by contract, as determined by the department and the health maintenance organization or the prepaid health plan, but shall not exceed the maximum permitted by federal rules and shall be less than the federal maximum when funds appropriated by the legislature for such contracts require a lesser rate. For purposes of this subsection, "health maintenance organizations" are entities approved as such, and "prepaid health plans" are entities designated as such by the Department of Health and Human Services; and "risk" means the possibility that the health maintenance organization or the prepaid health plan may incur a loss because the cost of providing services may exceed the payments made by the department for services covered under the contract.
(e) The department shall prepare each biennial budget request for a medical care appropriation based upon the most current Hawaii medicaid fee schedule available at the time the request is prepared.
The director shall submit a report to the legislature on or before January 1 of each year indicating an estimate of the amount of money required to be appropriated to pay providers at the maximum rates permitted by federal and state rules in the upcoming fiscal year.
(f) Notwithstanding subsection (b) to the contrary, beginning on January 1, 2013, fees payable to dentists shall be determined by the department of human services."
SECTION 6. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2012-2013 to increase payments to dentists who provide dental services to individuals who receive medical assistance through QUEST or the QUEST expanded access program.
The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of human services for the purposes of this part.
PART III
SECTION 7. If any part of this Act is found to be in conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition for the allocation of federal funds to the State, the conflicting part of this Act is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict and with respect to the agencies directly affected, and this finding does not affect the operation of the remainder of this Act in its application to the agencies concerned. The rules in effect as a result of this Act shall meet federal requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal funds by the State.
SECTION 8. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 9. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2012.
Report Title:
Oral Health; Dentists; Public Schools; Medicaid; Appropriations
Description:
Requires the department of health to educate the public about issues that affect children's oral health. Authorizes the department of human services to determine the fees payable to dentists who provide dental services to QUEST and the QUEST expanded access program participants. Appropriates funds to increase payments for dental services to QUEST and the QUEST expanded access program participants. Establishes an electronic system to track data relating to children's dental health. (SD1)
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
