HB2845 HD2

Report Title:

Dentistry; Licensing

Description:

Allows issuance of a nonrenewable 3-year temporary license to practice dentistry under a "safety net dental provider organization" without examination. (HB2845 HD2)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2845
TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002		H.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to dental licensing.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii has a considerable number of residents with unmet oral health needs. Our children have some of the worst rates of dental caries and baby bottle tooth decay in the nation. The unmet dental treatment needs of Native Hawaiian, Southeast Asian, Filipino, and Pacific Islander children range between forty and sixty-three per cent.

Although Hawaii has a large number of practicing dentists, it has one of the lowest national participation rates in the Medicaid program. This results in serious dental care access barriers to children whose dental care would otherwise be covered by Medicaid or QUEST.

In addition, over three hundred thousand Hawaii residents have no dental insurance and little money to pay for dental care. Low-income adults enrolled in Medicaid or QUEST are not provided coverage for basic dental care. Elders covered by Medicare also do not receive dental benefits. And Hawaii's Prepaid Health Care Act does not require employer—sponsored health plans to offer dental benefits.

Neighbor island communities have the greatest oral health disparities, highest ratios of residents who are uninsured or covered by Medicaid or QUEST, and the lowest ratio of dentists to population.

The legislature finds that safety net dental providers are critically important to address Hawaii's unmet oral health needs, but these safety net providers, especially on the neighbor islands, have difficulty providing adequate incentives to recruit dentists as employees or volunteers.

The legislature further finds that relaxing Hawaii's dental licensing provisions for dentists who are paid or volunteer to work for safety net dental providers is a powerful means of assisting safety net dental providers to recruit dentists without compromising the quality of dental care available in the State of Hawaii.

SECTION 2. Section 448-12, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§448-12 Temporary license. (a) The board of dental examiners may issue without examination to any resident or nonresident otherwise qualified to be examined a temporary license to practice dentistry in the employment of the State or any county, or any legally incorporated eleemosynary dispensary [or], infirmary, private school, or welfare center.

(b) The board of dental examiners may issue without examination to any resident or nonresident otherwise qualified to be examined a temporary license to practice dentistry solely under the auspices of a safety net dental provider organization; provided that:

(1) The dentist is a graduate of a dental college accredited by the Council that is recognized and approved by the board, and the dentist is a resident in an ADA accredited advanced training program; or

(2) The dentist:

(A) Graduated from a dental college accredited by the Council that is recognized and approved by the board;

(B) Holds a current, valid, and unencumbered license in another state or territory of the United States;

(D) Can provide proof that the dentist has been in clinical practice for a minimum of one thousand hours per year for at least three years immediately preceding the date of application; and

(E) Signs a release allowing the disclosure of information from the National Practitioner Data Bank and verification of registration status with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.

(c) The temporary license shall authorize the person to whom the license is issued to practice dentistry exclusively while engaged in that employment [~~and~~]. A temporary license may be granted for a maximum period of three years. The temporary license shall be in force until the earliest of the following occurs:

(1) The date the person leaves the employment authorized under the temporary license;

(2) [~~The three hundred ninety-sixth-calendar day following the date of issuance of the temporary license;~~] The date upon which the license period expires;

(3) The date on which the results of the licensure examination taken by the person under this chapter are posted by the board; or

(4) The date on which the board revokes the temporary license;

provided that the board may revoke the temporary license at any time for cause.

No person who has failed an examination shall have the benefit of any temporary license.

[~~(b)~~](d) The board of dental examiners may issue without examination to any resident or nonresident licensed in another state and otherwise qualified to be examined a temporary license to practice dentistry while in the employment of the department of health to provide dental services to Hansen's disease sufferers. The temporary license shall be valid for a period of three years or until the first board examination after the conclusion of the three-year period and only while the person to whom the temporary license is issued is in the employment of the department of health and works under the general direction and supervision of a duly licensed dentist. The temporary license shall not be renewed and shall be reviewed annually by the board of dental examiners for continuance and shall be subject to revocation and suspension as provided in section 448-17. The temporary licensee shall not be eligible for examination by the board of dental examiners while the temporary license is in effect.

(e) As used in this section:

"ADA" means the American Dental Association.

"Council" means the Council of Dental Education of the American Dental Association.

"Safety net dental provider organization" means an entity that is within a federally qualified health center."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.