STAND. COM. REP. NO. 746

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 343

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 343, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DENTAL HEALTH,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to support dental health services in the State.

 

     More specifically, this measure:

 

(1)  Requires the Director of Health to participate in the National Oral Health Surveillance System;

 

(2)  Allows dental hygienists to apply preventative sealants, in conjunction with a licensed dentist, at federally qualified health centers, in a school-based dental sealant program;

 

(3)  Requires the Department of Health to establish and administer a school-based dental sealant program in a high-need demonstration school;

 

(4)  Requires the Department of Health to report to the Legislature regarding the efforts to prioritize prevention against tooth decay in children; and

 

(5)  Appropriates moneys for the school-based dental sealant program.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, Hawaii Dental Hygienists' Association, and three individuals.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Dental Association.

 

     Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

 

     Your Committee finds that the State has an interest in improving access to preventative dental care for the children in the State.  The placement of plastic sealants in the molars of children can prevent tooth decay and thereby prevent costly dental procedures.  Accordingly, your Committee finds that the creation of a school-based dental sealant program will allow more children to receive this preventative dental procedure and improve the dental health of children in the State.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Changing the appropriation to an unspecified amount; and

 

(2)  Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 343, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 343, S.D. 2.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

 

 

 

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair