BILL NUMBER: SB 694 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 12, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 4, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 29, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Padilla
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to repeal and add , add, and repeal
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 provide that no General Fund
moneys shall be used to implement these provisions, but would
authorize the state to accept other 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.
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 problems ; 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.
(2) No General Fund moneys shall be used to fund this section.
Moneys to fund the office shall be secured from other public or
private sources. 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
responsibility 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 may 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) (1) 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.
(2) All procedures administered by providers during the study
shall be paid for by private or federal funds. No General Fund moneys
shall be used to fund procedures performed as part of the study.
(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.
104752. This article shall become inoperative on January 1, 2016,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that is enacted before January 1, 2016, deletes or extends that date.