Florida Senate - 2015 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 606
Ì504938IÎ504938
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
03/04/2015 .
.
.
.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
The Committee on Health Policy (Gaetz) recommended the
following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete lines 44 - 146
4 and insert:
5 underserved areas or who treat a medically underserved
6 population. The Legislature recognizes that maintaining good
7 oral health is integral to overall health status and that the
8 good health of residents of this state is an important
9 contributing factor in economic development. Better health,
10 including better oral health, enables workers to be more
11 productive, reduces the burden of health care costs, and enables
12 children to improve in cognitive development.
13 (1) As used in this section, the term:
14 (a) “Dental health professional shortage area” means a
15 geographic area so designated by the Health Resources and
16 Services Administration of the United States Department of
17 Health and Human Services.
18 (b) “Department” means the Department of Health.
19 (c) “Medically underserved area” means a geographic area so
20 designated by the Health Resources and Services Administration
21 of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
22 (d) “Public health program” means a county health
23 department, the Children’s Medical Services program, a federally
24 funded community health center, a federally funded migrant
25 health center, or other publicly funded or nonprofit health care
26 program as designated by the department.
27 (2) The department shall develop and implement a dental
28 care access account initiative to benefit dentists licensed to
29 practice in this state who demonstrate, as required by the
30 department by rule:
31 (a) Active employment by a public health program located in
32 a dental health professional shortage area or a medically
33 underserved area; or
34 (b) A commitment to opening a private practice in a dental
35 health professional shortage area or a medically underserved
36 area evidenced by residing in the designated area, maintaining
37 an active Medicaid provider agreement, enrolling in one or more
38 Medicaid managed care plans, expending sufficient capital to
39 make substantial progress in opening a dental practice that is
40 capable of serving at least 1,200 patients, and obtaining
41 financial support from the local community in which the dentist
42 is practicing or intending to open a practice.
43 (3) The department shall establish dental care access
44 accounts as individual benefit accounts for each dentist who
45 satisfies the requirements of subsection (2) and is selected by
46 the department for participation. The department shall implement
47 an electronic benefit transfer system that enables each dentist
48 to spend funds from his or her account for the purposes
49 described in subsection (4).
50 (4) Funds contributed from state and local sources to a
51 dental care access account may be used for one or more of the
52 following purposes:
53 (a) Repayment of dental school student loans.
54 (b) Investment in property, facilities, or equipment
55 necessary to establish and operate a dental office consisting of
56 no fewer than two operatories.
57 (c) Payment of transitional expenses related to the
58 relocation or opening of a dental practice which are
59 specifically approved by the department.
60 (5) Subject to legislative appropriation, the department
61 shall distribute state funds as an award to each dental care
62 access account. Such awards must be in an amount not more than
63 $100,000 and not less than $10,000, except that a state award
64 may not exceed 3 times the amount contributed to an account in
65 the same year from local sources. If a dentist qualifies for a
66 dental care access account under paragraph (2)(a), the dentist’s
67 salary and associated employer expenditures constitute a local
68 match and qualify the account for a state award if the salary
69 and associated expenditures do not come from state funds. State
70 funds may not be included in a determination of the amount
71 contributed to an account from local sources.
72 (6) The department may accept contributions of funds from
73 local sources for deposit in the account of a dentist designated
74 by the donor.
75 (7) The department shall close an account no later than 5
76 years after the first deposit of state or local funds into that
77 account or immediately upon the occurrence of any of the
78 following:
79 (a) Termination of the dentist’s employment with a public
80 health program, unless, within 30 days of such termination, the
81 dentist opens a private practice in a dental health professional
82 shortage area or medically underserved area.
83 (b) Termination of the dentist’s practice in a designated
84 dental health professional shortage area or medically
85 underserved area.
86 (c) Termination of the dentist’s participation in the
87 Florida Medicaid program.
88 (d) Participation by the dentist in any fraudulent
89 activity.
90 (8) Any state funds remaining in a closed account may be
91 awarded and transferred to another account concurrent with the
92 distribution of funds under the next legislative appropriation
93 for the initiative. The department shall return to the donor on
94 a pro rata basis unspent funds from local sources which remain
95 in a closed account.
96 (9) If the department determines that a dentist has
97 withdrawn account funds after the occurrence of an event
98 specified in subsection (7), has used funds for purposes not
99 authorized in subsection (4), or has not remained eligible for a
100 dental care access account for a minimum of 2 years, the dentist
101 shall repay the funds to his or her account. The department may
102 recover the withdrawn funds through disciplinary enforcement
103 actions and other methods authorized by law.
104 (10) The department shall establish by rule:
105 (a) Application procedures for dentists who wish to apply
106 for a dental care access account. An applicant may demonstrate
107 that he or she has expended sufficient capital to make
108 substantial progress in opening a dental practice that is
109 capable of serving at least 1,200 patients by documenting
110 contracts for the purchase or lease of a practice location and
111 providing executed obligations for the purchase or other
112 acquisition of at least 30 percent of the value of equipment or
113 supplies necessary to operate a dental practice. The department
114 may limit the number of applicants selected and shall give
115 priority to those applicants practicing in the areas receiving
116 higher rankings pursuant to subsection (11). The department may
117 establish additional criteria for selection which recognize an
118 applicant’s active engagement with and commitment to the
119 community providing a local match.
120 (b) A process to verify that funds withdrawn from a dental
121 care access account have been used solely for the purposes
122 described in subsection (4).
123 (11) The Department of Economic Opportunity shall rank the
124 dental health professional shortage areas and medically
125 underserved areas of the state based on the extent to which
126 limited access to dental care is impeding the area’s economic
127 development, with a higher ranking indicating a greater
128 impediment to development.
129 (12) The department shall develop a marketing plan for the
130 dental care access account initiative in cooperation with the
131 University of Florida College of Dentistry, the Nova
132 Southeastern University College of Dental Medicine, the Lake
133 Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine School of Dental Medicine,
134 and the Florida Dental Association.
135
136 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
137 And the title is amended as follows:
138 Delete lines 25 - 31
139 and insert:
140 disciplinary enforcement actions and to use other
141 legal means to recover funds; requiring the department
142 to establish by rule application procedures and a
143 process to verify the use of funds withdrawn from a
144 dental care access account; requiring the department
145 to give priority to applications from dentists
146 practicing in certain areas; requiring the Department
147 of Economic Opportunity to rank shortage areas and
148 medically underserved areas; requiring the Department
149 of Health to develop a marketing plan in cooperation
150 with certain dental colleges and the Florida Dental
151 Association; providing an