Amendment #721 to H3400

Oral Health for Individuals with Disabilities

Representatives Garlick of Needham, Sannicandro of Ashland, Brodeur of Melrose, Chan of Quincy, Scibak of South Hadley, Gregoire of Marlborough, Khan of Newton, Rogers of Cambridge, Andrews of Orange and Garballey of Arlington move to amend the bill by inserting in the outside sections the following sections:

“SECTION XX.  The department of public health’s office of oral health and the center for health information and analysis shall submit a report no later than December 31, 2013 to the House and Senate chairs of the Joint Committee on Public Health, the House and Senate Chairs of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, the chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means, and the Senate Chair of the Committee on Ways and Means on the oral health care needs of residents of the Commonwealth living with disabilities.  The report shall include, but need not be limited to, the following information: (i) barriers to accessing dental health care for persons living with disabilities; (ii) the capacity of the current dental health care system to address the oral health needs of persons living with disabilities, with a focus on the availability of specialized equipment, the extent of provider training to treat this population, and any geographic disparities that may exist; and (ii) a projection of what additional resources, if any, are needed to fully address this need.”