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2008. About 130 people signed up this year, more than twice the usual
number of attendees. On top of the agenda was discussing the problems
with the Maryland Medicaid system and how to increase access to dental
care for these patients. Prior to Dentist Day, MSDA President Garner
Morgan met with the Maryland State Senate Financing Committee on
January 16, 2008 to discuss ways to accommodate the needs of the state’s
Medicaid population. Recommendations from the Dental Action Committee
meeting included increasing Medicaid reimbursements to the fifty percent
level, increasing the dental public health infrastructure, allowing
hygienists in public health settings to perform more preventive services,
simplifying the Medicaid reimbursement system, screening children for
dental problems in the public school setting, and creating additional
educational programs for dentists. An estimated 400,000 poor children in
Maryland need dental treatment and less than ten percent of Maryland
dentists participate with Medicaid. Currently, three counties in Maryland
(Cecil, Kent and Charles) have only one Medicaid dental provider in their
county. In addition, many dental health clinics have shut down due to
budget problems-- further limiting access to care in many areas of the state.
Attendees met with their legislators to discuss upcoming bills that might
have an effect on dentistry. One such bill was House Bill H614 concerning a
sales and use tax of 6% on cosmetic procedures, which includes teeth
whitening and rhinoplasty. The MSDA opposes this tax. Recently, there has
been a push to begin taxing services in Maryland because the state is in
transition – moving from manufacturing to a service-oriented state. So, it is
possible that many service taxes may come up for a vote in the future. (For
example, the state recently enacted a similar tax on the computer services
industry.) Besides the accounting nightmares that this service tax would
create, there would be the difficulties in determining which
procedures are truly “cosmetic” versus which were being done for
medical/dental reasons.
The MSDA also opposes House Bill H919 which would lessen the
restrictions on the supervision of hygienists that were enacted into law
about two years ago. Although the MSDA has supported other legislation to
broaden the types of procedures that hygienist can perform in Maryland
while under the supervision of a dentist and the MSDA supports access to
care by allowing hygienists to perform in public health settings, the MSDA
currently believes that allowing patients to be treated by hygienists without
the supervision of a dentist would be detrimental to the public’s health.
This past year the MSDA has also given money to fund dental hygiene
programs in the state in order to help with the shortage of hygienists and
to hopefully improve access to care.
If you do not participate in Dentist Day, please write, contact, or e-mail your
delegates or state senators regarding matters of importance to our
profession. You can find out who your legislators are at http://www.mdelect.
net/electedofficials/default.asp.