Legislative Session number- 82

Bill Name: SF1361

E Establishing a dental education account in the general fund for use by the
commissioner of health to establish a loan forgiveness program for dentists
agreeing to provide services to state public assistance program participants and
other low to moderate income uninsured patients, specifying program eligibility
requirements and loan forgiveness conditions, providing a penalty for
nonfulfillment of the service commitment requirement, authorizing commissioner
waiver or suspension of payment or service obligations under certain disability
or emergency conditions; providing for the consideration of patients seen on a
volunteer basis by dentists at locations other than the usual place of practice
in meeting the medical assistance (MA) participation requirement for
participation in other health care programs; requiring and providing for the
commissioner of human services to award grants to community clinics or other
nonprofit community organizations, local government units or professional
associations demonstrating the ability to provide dental services to public
program recipients, specifying certain authorized grant uses; specifying certain
grant award priority and consideration requirements; requiring the commissioner
to evaluate the effects of the dental access initiatives funded through the
grants and report to the legislature by a certain date; requiring the
commissioner to establish a temporary dental access advisory committee to
monitor the purchasing, administration and coverage of dental care services for
public health care programs to ensure dental care access and quality for
recipients, specifying certain membership representation requirements and
duties, requiring annual commissioner reports to the legislature on the
activities and recommendations of the advisory committee; requiring the
commissioner to establish a dental services demonstration project in Crow Wing,
Todd, Morrison, Wadena and Cass counties to provide dental services to medical
assistance, general assistance medical care (GAMC) and MinnesotaCare program
recipients, authorizing the commissioner to contract on a prospective per capita
payment basis for the services or to establish and administer a fee for service
system; eliminating certain provisions providing for a prior dental services
grant program under medical assistance; establishing a formula under medical
assistance for payment for diagnostic examinations and dental x-rays provided to
children under a certain age and authorizing and providing for the commissioner
to increase reimbursement to dentists or dental clinics designated by the
commissioner as critical access providers; appropriating money to the
commissioner of health for the dentist loan forgiveness program and to the
commissioner of human services for medical assistance dental payment rate
increases and for the dental access grant program (ra, ja)