BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 836
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 836 (Skinner)
As Amended June 18, 2013
Majority vote
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |76-0 |(April 25, |SENATE: |37-0 |(August 19, |
| | |2013) | | |2013) |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Original Committee Reference: B.,P. & C.P.
SUMMARY : Restricts the continuing education (CE) requirement
hours for retired active dentists who provide only uncompensated
care at a maximum of 60% of that required for non-retired active
dentists, and requires the Dental Board of California (DBC) to
report on the status of retired active dentists who provide
only uncompensated care during its next sunset report.
The Senate amendments require that all of the hours of CE
required of a retired active dentist be gained through courses
related to the actual delivery of dental services to the patient
or the community, as determined by the DBC.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, one-time costs less than $75,000 to update existing
regulations by the DBC (State Dentistry Fund).
COMMENTS : According to the author, "California has one of the
highest CE requirements of any state and adjusting the CE units
for retired dentists - from 50 CE units to 30 CE units for a
two-year licensure renewal cycle would bring California's
requirement for retired volunteer dentists in line with the
requirement for actively practicing dentists in half of the
other states.
"As dentists retire, it will be critical for California to
leverage their wealth of experience and keen technical abilities
to provide care to currently un- or underserved populations."
Types of dental licenses . The DBC issues the following licenses
to dentists:
1)Active dental license . An active dentist must meet all the
requirements for licensure, including 50 hours of CE.
AB 836
Page 2
2)Retired inactive dental license . An inactive retired dentist
license may be issued if a licensee demonstrates to the
satisfaction of DBC that he or she is unable to practice
dentistry due to a disability. DBC may waive 50% of the
license renewal fee and the licensee is not required to
complete CEs. An inactive retired dental licensee may not
practice dentistry.
3)Retired active dental license . DBC provides a retired active
dentist's license at 50% of the active license fee for those
dentists who have practiced dentistry for 20 years or more in
California, reached the age of retirement under the federal
Social Security Act, and customarily provide their services
free of charge to any person, organization, or agency. The
active retired dental license does not restrict the licensee
to volunteer services, but limits any income from the practice
of dentistry to less than the amount that would make the
licensee ineligible for full social security benefits.
There are currently 1,754 active retired dentist licensees in
California.
Access to dental care in California . Access to dental care is
limited for many Californians. Denti-Cal, Medi-Cal's
fee-for-service dental program, was the primary public financer
of dental care for more than eight million low-income, elderly,
and disabled Californians in 2007. In 2009, most of the
Medi-Cal adult dental benefits were eliminated due to the
state's budget deficit. Children's services, as required by
federal law, continue to be delivered. However, California also
cut $3 million from school programs that provided oral care
preventive services such as fluoride rinses and sealants for
low-income children. California Dental Association (CDA)
estimates that upwards of 10 million Californians experience
barriers to dental care.
Free dental care opportunities . Community-wide free healthcare
events have increased in frequency in recent years in response
to greater need.
CDA sponsored two such events in May and August 2012 in Modesto
and Sacramento, respectively, for dental care that served over
3,600 people with the assistance of over 1,300 volunteers.
Remote Area Medical, also volunteer-based, provided 19,500
California patients with nearly 46,000 vision, dental, and
AB 836
Page 3
medical services from 2009 to 2011. According to CDA, demand
for health services usually exceeds the capacity of these
events.
Continuing education . Continuing education is intended to
ensure dentists remain current in the practice of dentistry
throughout their careers. Many CE classes focus on discrete
subjects or recent developments in dental specialties. However,
in most volunteer situations, dentists provide basic care:
fillings, extractions, dental sealants, stainless steel crowns,
etc. This diminishes their need for ongoing education in the
use of advanced techniques and new technologies.
Current law requires active retired dental licensees to complete
the same amount of CEs as active dentists: 50 hours. Each
renewal cycle also requires dentists to complete two hours each
of coursework in infection control and the California Dental
Practice Act, and a maximum of four hours in Basic Life Support.
These special requirements would remain in place for retired
active dentists.
States nationwide require between 25 and 50 hours per two-year
renewal cycle, with a median of 40. According to information
provided by the author's office, only four other states,
Virginia, Maryland, Missouri, and Kansas, have no or reduced CE
units for volunteer dentists.
CEs range in cost per hour from zero to hundreds of dollars, so
a reduction in hour requirements may also reduce the financial
cost of active retired license renewal.
Analysis Prepared by : Sarah Huchel / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301
FN: 0001339