BILL NUMBER: SB 694 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 4, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 29, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Padilla
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to add Section 1622 to the Business and
Professions Code, repeal and add Article 2
(commencing with Section 104750) of Chapter 3 of Part 3 of Division
103 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to dental care.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 694, as amended, Padilla. Dental care.
Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to
maintain a dental program that includes, but is not limited to,
development of comprehensive dental health plans within the framework
of a specified state plan.
This bill would repeal these provisions and would provide for the
creation of a Statewide Office of Oral Health within the State
Department of Public Health with a licensed dentist who serves as the
dental director. This bill would authorize the state to accept
public and private funds for the purpose of implementing these
provisions and would provide that these provisions become
inoperative, as specified, if federal or private funds are not
deposited with the state in an amount sufficient to fully support the
activities of the office.
Existing law establishes within the Department of Consumer
Affairs, a Dental Board of California. Existing law provides for the
licensure and regulation of dentists by the Dental Board of
California.
This bill would require the Director of Consumer Affairs, in
collaboration with the board, to convene a working group to conduct
an analysis of the dental care needs of California residents, subject
to specified criteria and standards.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) Nationally and statewide, tooth decay ranks as the most common
chronic disease and unmet health care need of children.
(b) Poor dental health can disrupt normal childhood development,
seriously damage overall health, and impair a child's ability to
learn, concentrate, and perform well in school. In rare cases,
untreated tooth decay can lead to death.
(c) Unmet dental needs have significant human and financial costs.
In 2007, it was estimated that California schools lost nearly thirty
million dollars ($30,000,000) in attendance-based school district
funding due to 874,000 missed school days related to dental absences;
and California's hospitals experienced over 83,000 emergency room
visits for preventable dental problems at a cost of fifty-five
million dollars ($55,000,000).
(d) With full implementation of the federal Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148), approximately 1.2 million
additional children in California are expected to gain dental
coverage.
(e) The burden of oral disease can be markedly decreased through
early intervention, including education, prevention, and treatment.
Effective prevention reduces the need for costly treatment of
advanced dental disease.
(f) To address this unmet need, a comprehensive coordinated
strategy is necessary, at the foundation of which is a strong state
oral health infrastructure to coordinate essential public dental
health functions, including assessing need and capacity to address
that need.
SEC. 2. Article 2 (commencing with Section 104750)
of Chapter 3 of Part 3 of Division 103 of the Health and
Safety Code is repealed.
SEC. 3. Article 2 (commencing with Section 104750)
is added to Chapter 3 of Part 3 of Division 103 of the
Health and Safety Code , to read:
Article 2. Statewide Office of Oral Health
104750. (a) There shall be a Statewide Office of Oral Health
within the State Department of Public Health.
(b) Within the office there shall be a licensed dentist who serves
as the dental director.
(c) The dental director and his or her staff shall have all of,
but not be limited to, the following responsibilities:
(1) Advancing and protecting the oral health of all Californians.
(2) Developing a comprehensive and sustainable state oral health
action plan to address the state's unmet oral health needs.
(3) Encouraging private and public collaboration to meet the oral
health needs of Californians.
(4) Securing funds to support infrastructure and statewide and
local programs.
(5) Promoting evidence-based approaches to increase oral health
literacy.
(6) Establishing a system for surveillance and oral health
reporting.
(d) The state may accept public funds and private funds for the
purpose of implementing this article.
(e) (1) The office shall be established pursuant to this section
only after a determination has been made by the Department of Finance
that federal or private funds in an amount sufficient to fully
support the activities of the office, including staffing the office,
have been deposited with the state.
(2) If the Department of Finance makes a determination that the
amount of federal or private funds deposited with the state is not
sufficient to support the activities of the office, it is the intent
of the Legislature that this section become inoperative.
(f) (1) If the office is established pursuant to this section, the
office shall assume responsible for identifying and securing funding
sources in order to maintain the functions of the office.
(2) If the office does not secure sustainable funding sources to
maintain the activities of the office pursuant to paragraph (1), this
section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2016.
104751. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that, as part of a
comprehensive integrated system of dental care, with the dentist as
the head of that system, additional dental providers who provide
basic preventive and restorative oral health care to underserved
children, located at or near where children live or go to school, may
have the potential to reduce the oral health disease burden in the
population most in need.
(b) The office shall design and implement a scientifically
rigorous study to assess the safety, quality, cost-effectiveness, and
patient satisfaction of irreversible dental procedures performed by
traditional and nontraditional providers for the purpose of informing
future decisions about scope of practice changes in the dental
workforce that include irreversible or surgical procedures. The
research parameters of the study shall include public health
settings, multiple models of dentist supervision, multiple pathways
of education and training, and multiple dental providers, including
dentists and nondentists.
(c) The dental director shall convene an advisory group on study
design and implementation.
(d) The dental director shall provide input regarding study design
and implementation, receive all study data and reports, and develop
a report and recommendations to be submitted to the Legislature based
on the study findings.
(e) There shall be no General Fund moneys used to implement this
section. Moneys to fund the study, including analysis and findings,
shall be secured from other public or private sources.
(f) In the event that the study described in this section is not
sufficiently funded and commenced by January 1, 2014, this section
shall become inoperative on January 1, 2014.
SECTION 1. Section 1622 is added to the
Business and Professions Code, to read:
1622. (a) The Director of Consumer Affairs, in collaboration with
the board, shall convene a working group to advise the state on
solutions to address the growing dental care needs of California
residents.
(b) The working group shall analyze the population of children who
would be newly eligible to receive dental health services under the
federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law
111-148). The working group shall determine the workforce
requirements to meet the needs of these newly insured children,
considering the regional needs and capabilities required. The working
group may engage the expertise of stakeholders to assist in this
analysis.
(c) The analysis completed pursuant to this section shall be made
available to the Legislature and the public upon request.