Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Human Services and Housing and Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 68 entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to improve oral health by appropriating funds to provide basic dental services to adults under Medicaid and Med-QUEST on a fee-for-service basis through the Med-QUEST Program.

The Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, Hawaii Dental Association, Life Foundation, Hawaii Primary Care Association, and a concerned individual testified in support of this measure. The Department of Human Services submitted comments.

Your Committees find that there are individuals, particularly in underserved areas, that are not receiving even basic dental care because it is cost-prohibitive. Additionally, basic dental services for adults covered by Medicaid and Med-QUEST were discontinued in 1996. There is also confusion regarding reimbursement to dental providers at community health centers, discouraging dentists from serving at these centers, and this further compounds the problem. The result is that individuals endure pain because it is too costly to pay out-of-pocket for a service such as a root canal.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Housing and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 68 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Finance.