S.B. 285 Uninsured Children Dental Care Amendments: transcript

Always ready, Mr. Chair. This is true. And now we see we have a sub here.

Uh, we have a quorum so we can move that if you'd like. Um, yes, that will be, if that's appropriate. Mr. Chair. Um, okay. If I can speak to that. Yes, go ahead. Um, so we're just, um, the original bill had the fundings coming from a specific fund that's related to transportation. And after some due diligence with other members of, of the Senate leadership, we, uh, it was important to bring it back to the general fund. So that's what the, the changes do in the first substitute.

Excellent. Thank you Mr. Chair and committee. So, um, just this, a simple bill in a way, and I'll just explain why. It is a simple bill that has a fi a $5 million fiscal node to create a restricted account that will provide dental, um, and oral health for children in our K 12 system that are uninsured. So that's what the bill does. And Mr. Chair, anyone that has had any tooth issues knows that it is impossible to be able to focus and do anything else, is very, very painful. And when you think about how about 20% of our Utah children have no dental insurance in the state of Utah currently, and with some of the changes at the federal level, we know thousands of kiddos will be dropping out of Medicaid and chip in the next year. Tooth decay is the most common chronic disease in adults and children, often causing adults to miss work. And in the case of children missing school being the first reason why children miss school is a toothache. Two out of three children have had a cavity by the time they're in third grade. And as we continue to invest on our up to third grade reading by third grade, um, initiatives, it makes sense to me that we also invest in making sure children are healthy so they can learn and put all their, uh, focus on learning. And I'll just end by saying that dental disease is the most common chronic childhood condition in Utah and is almost always preventable. Many children suffer from untreated cavities, dental, pain, and infection, which would directly affect our ability to eat, sleep, learn, and thrive. These various contribute to high rates of decay and Utah children missing schools, long-term health consequences and extended into adulthood. Tooth decay is the most common chronic disease among children in the United States as well as in Utah. And I think it's, if we put an effort to address this issue, we can get a return on investment by making sure that our great programs that we have in place, in this case, the University of Utah, will be the one addressing the delivery of services with providers across the state of Utah. We can certainly have a better group of kiddos, more healthy, ready to learn with all the investment we're putting into our education system without Mr. Um, chair, I'm open for questions.

Good morning. Um, my name is Megan Neuf, um, and I am the Children's Health Policy Analyst at Voices for Utah Children. And I'm speaking here, um, in support of this bill. I wanna thank the committee for your time and also recognize that Senator Cullimore, Senator Escamilla, um, has a longstanding commitment to improving children's health in Utah. Um, as the senator shared research shows that children with unmet dental needs miss more school than their peers. And this AP absenteeism is linked to lower academic performance. Poor or oral health isn't just a toothache, it detracts some attendance focus and success in school. Access to dental care is also deeply tied to income. And children from families who cannot afford dental insurance are much more likely to have untreated cavities and less likely to receive preventative dental visits. When low income families lack coverage, impacts whole health and untreated cavities, and abscesses can lead to serious infections and even life threat, life threatening complications. Poor dental health in childhood also impacts confidence and long-term employment prospects. Something we've clearly seen adults who lack, who have lacked access to care. Expanding preventative dental care also lowers healthcare costs by reducing avoidable emergency room visits for dental conditions. Um, Utah has been a national leader in innovative cost-effective care solutions, and this is a smart preventative investment that will improve attendance, health outcomes, and long-term opportunity for Utah children. Thank

Danielle Evans on line. Good morning chair members of the committee. My name's Danielle Evans from Senate District 28, and I am representing myself and the Utah Dental Hygienist Association this morning. Uh, we would like to begin by thanking Senator Escamilla for her tireless dedication to children's health over the years, um, her leadership on oral health in particular has been a beacon for those of us working on the front lines in care. Um, while the UDHA stands in support of this bill, we must share our hope that future iterations of this legislation, um, would be even broader. We believe that allowing a wider range of qualified providers, including dental hygienists, um, direct access to these funds, would further maximize the state's ability to reach our most vulnerable uninsured children. However, we do recognize the immediate value of the progress that's, um, before us today. So, like others have said, the data tells a clear story. Um, 66% of Utah's children experienced tooth decay. This isn't just a clinical issue, it's an educational one. Oral pain is the leading cause of missed school days directly impacting a child's ability to learn and thrive. So when a child's in pain, they cannot focus on a math lesson or reading. Um, from a public health perspective, we cannot overstate the importance of early intervention. Preventive care like dental cleaning, sealants, and education is significantly more cost effective than the restorative work required once decay has taken hold. So, by investing in the mouths of our children now, we are preventing a lifetime of progressively expensive care and chronic systemic health issues. So as an association, we urge the committee to support SB 2 85. As we often say, in our prevent profession, an ounce of prevention truly is worth a pound of cure. So thank you for your time and for your commitment to you Utah children.

Mr. Chair, is that appropriate?

I I appreciate the time from the committee and, uh, that I make a motion that we favorably recommend for substitute 2 85 to the Senate.

Thank you Chair. I support the motion. I do have a question on the motion on this bill. If I may, to the motion as we move this forward, uh, there are, there are some opportunities and some products in the marketplace that really help this, that, that there's been a resistance to, to having them avail the children gums and different things that really help with the tooth decay. Uh, is that, are we contemplating, is is that going to be part of the opportunities as we move forward? Or is that a different issue? We need to, Um, Mr. Chair, if, as far of my closing remarks, maybe of course, answer that question.

I appreciate that. Thank you, Senator. I think the goal is to be as open and broad as possible, senator. And if we need to add anything that will make us be creative on how we actually get help to these kiddos. And the reason why, if you look at the, the bill, it goes to the, um, university of Utah School of Dentistry. They, they are now doing most of the delivery of care, I mean, as a network for the entire state. So I think the opportunity, especially addressing, uh, the fact that, um, you know, um, now we need the gummies for the kids that are not having access to, uh, fluoride and so forth. So anything could be at the table, but if we need more language, we just need to bring all those costs down as much as possible. And by having the one place, I think it's gonna help us with that. But it's all about prevention. Thank you. Thank you.

So Moved. Okay.

Um, This bill is, um, addressing the increasing need for dental care and the impact it has on children, especially as we are ready to invest on our education system for their reading and reading at grade level. The number one reason why our kiddos miss school is for toothache and oral health related, um, medical issues. We know we're gonna be, uh, losing kiddos from, um, insurance coverage, uh, after 2027. So what we are, you know, addressing here with the University of Utah Dental, uh, program that is the provider for all of the network, and not only of the University of Utah Health Systems, but also Medicaid and chip, is that we use the same network and create a restricted account fund to make sure, um, children that are needing help get access that are uninsured so we can take care of them, get them back at school, and we can continue working and, and making sure they can thrive in their education and, and life. Um, what's nice about this, it opens the ability for private funds. We've talked to multiple philanthropic organizations that wanna help through this process is just puts it in one place, which is the University of Utah, um, health, um, dentistry program. And from there it goes to the children and that will be through the providers directly, as they will do with any other, um, program in the state without Mr. President open for questions. So, you know, Senator Cullimore you up so you No questions. I'm gonna go to you for a motion. Senator Escamilla, Call the question, Mr. President.

Senator Vickers Baldry Lewin Bramer Bus Colmore Escamilla Aye. Fillmore Rover Fillmore No. Harper Kins. Ipson Johnson. Aye. Juab McKay. Mikel Milner Musselman Johnson. Milner Milner.

Rover Musselman Owens pitch Aye. Plum Aye. Rebi. Sandal Stevenson. Stratton Bickers. Weiler Aye. Wilson Winterton Ipson Stevenson,