STAND. COM. REP. NO. 361-04

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: H.B. No. 2094

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Health and Human Services and Housing, to which was referred H.B. No. 2094 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DENTISTS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to encourage dental professionals to provide care to Hawaii's underserved populations by:

(1) Establishing a State Dental Loan Repayment Program (Program) to assist eligible dental professionals in paying off their educational loans in exchange for practicing in a federally designated dental health professional shortage area;

(2) Establishing the State Dental Loan Repayment Special Fund to receive matching federal funds for this purpose; and

(3) Appropriating $50,000 for the Program.

The Hawaii Primary Care Association and Kokua Council testified in support of this measure.

Hawaii's children have nearly three times the national average of baby bottle tooth decay, double the number of dental caries, and 60 percent more decayed and filled teeth. Although the State maintains a good ratio of dentists relative to the overall population, there is a severe shortage of dentists who serve remote, rural communities where poverty and cultural barriers exist. This bill will provide dental professionals with a strong incentive to serve these underserved populations.

Your Committees have amended this bill by replacing the appropriated amount with $1 for the purposes of continued discussion. Technical, nonsubstantive amendments have also been made for style and clarity.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Human Services and Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2094, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2094, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Human Services and Housing,

 

____________________________

MICHAEL PUAMAMO KAHIKINA, Chair

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DENNIS A. ARAKAKI, Chair