HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1597        FILED ON: 1/19/2017

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 624

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

John W. Scibak

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to early childhood cavities.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

Date Added:

John W. Scibak

2nd Hampshire

1/19/2017

Harriette L. Chandler

First Worcester

1/31/2017

Carmine L. Gentile

13th Middlesex

 

Marjorie C. Decker

25th Middlesex

 

Jason M. Lewis

Fifth Middlesex

 

Mike Connolly

26th Middlesex

 

Mathew Muratore

1st Plymouth

 

Chris Walsh

6th Middlesex

 

Stephan Hay

3rd Worcester

 

Kay Khan

11th Middlesex

 

Paul McMurtry

11th Norfolk

 

James M. Cantwell

4th Plymouth

 

Jonathan Hecht

29th Middlesex

 


HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1597        FILED ON: 1/19/2017

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 624

By Mr. Scibak of South Hadley, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 624) of John W. Scibak and others relative to the management of early childhood caries among MassHealth patients.  Health Care Financing.

 

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 1032 OF 2015-2016.]

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)

_______________

 

An Act relative to early childhood cavities.

 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Section 1.  The Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS or Executive Office) shall design a pilot program for the enhanced management of early childhood cavities among MassHealth patients.   EOHHS shall consult with the researchers involved in the Early Childhood cavities (ECC) Management Demonstration Project at Boston Children’s Hospital, Holyoke Health Center and other sites, where feasible, on the criteria by which providers should identify high risk of early childhood cavities in patients under the age of five.   EOHHS shall also consult those researchers on the types and amount of treatment that should be billable to the MassHealth program for effective management of the disease in those patients.  These shall include, but not be limited to: more frequent preventive visits and fluoride treatments, as well as family education and training in self-management, as established by the researchers in the ECC Management Demonstration Program in their early childhood cavity disease management protocol. 

              The Executive Office shall release a request for proposals with these design criteria no later than February 1, 2018 and select provider participants no later than April 1, 2016, for a start date no later than July 1, 2018.  EOHHS shall widely publicize the request for proposals in the provider community, including but not limited to its mention in a bulletin to all childhood dental and pediatric primary care providers.  Eligible entities shall include primary care providers co-located in the same facility with oral health providers who see the same patients. To the extent feasible, EOHHS shall select providers in both rural and urban areas in a wide geographic distribution across the Commonwealth.

              The selected providers must agree to submit their results relative to costs, the incidence of cavities before and after use of the new protocol, the experience of pain before and after and the number of referrals for operating room procedures.  The Executive Office shall release a report of those results to the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing and the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means by February 1, 2021.