HP0834, LD 1122, item 1, An Act To Increase Dental Benefits and Oral Health Care

An Act To Increase Dental Benefits and Oral Health Care

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §3174-F, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1997, c. 159, §§1 and 2 and PL 2003, c. 689, Pt. B, §6, is further amended to read:

1. Coverage provided. The Department of Health and Human Services shall provide dental services, reimbursed under the United States Social Security Act, Title XIX, or successors to it, to individuals 21 years of age and over, limited to:

A. Acute surgical care directly related to an accident where traumatic injury has occurred. This coverage will only be provided for the first 3 months after the accident;

B. Oral surgical and related medical procedures not involving the dentition and gingiva;

C. Extraction of teeth that are severely decayed and pose a serious threat of infection during a major surgical procedure of the cardiovascular system, the skeletal system or during radiation therapy for a malignant tumor;

D. Treatment necessary to relieve pain, eliminate infection or prevent imminent tooth loss; and

F. Other dental services, including full and partial dentures, medically necessary to correct or ameliorate an underlying medical condition, if the department determines that provision of those services will be cost-effective in comparison to the provision of other covered medical services for the treatment of that condition.

By January 1, 2012, benefits provided under this section must include repair of decayed or broken teeth and full or partial dentures.

Sec. 2. Report on the feasibility of implementing certain provisions of the Report of the Governor's Task Force on Expanding Access to Oral Health Care for Maine People. The Department of Health and Human Services, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention shall convene a broadly representative working group to review the feasibility of implementing recommendations 3 and 4 of the 2008 Report of the Governor's Task Force on Expanding Access to Oral Health Care for Maine People. The working group must include representatives of public health officials and advocates, providers of health services, consumers of health services, public health educators, the Finance Authority of Maine, the Advisory Council on Health Systems Development, the MaineCare Advisory Committee and professional associations of health care providers. The working group shall review the report and recommendation 3, which concerns integration of oral health care, and recommendation 4, which concerns a coordinated public education campaign, and the action steps for each recommendation. The working group shall report suggested legislation by November 1, 2011 to the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services.

summary

This bill provides expanded dental benefits for adults in the MaineCare program and also directs the Department of Health and Human Services, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention to convene a broadly representative working group to review the feasibility of implementing certain provisions of the Governor's Task Force on Expanding Access to Oral Health Care for Maine People and to report with suggested legislation to the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services by November 1, 2011.

HP0834 LD 1122	First Regular Session - 125th Maine Legislature		LR 39 Item 1
	Bill Tracking, Additional Documents	Chamber Status

Bill Tracking		Chamber Status
Amendments	Testimony, Public Hearings & Work Sessions		Committee Information
Other Documents			Title & Section

Search Bill Text		Search Bill Status
Bill Directory	Session Information		Legislative Information
Download MS-Word, Printed PDF		Maine Legislature

Office of Legislative Information 100 State House Station Augusta, ME 04333		voice: (207) 287-1692 fax: (207) 287-1580 tty: (207) 287-6826
Word Viewer for Windows		Disclaimer