House Appropriations committee advances bill to restore adult Medicaid dental coverage; Republicans oppose

At a meeting of the House Appropriations Committee, members advanced House Bill 583, which would require the Department of Health to revise adult dental benefits under the Medical Assistance Program to expand coverage for adults to at least the dental services that existed prior to Sept. 2011.

The bill matters because it would change the scope of services reimbursed through the state Medical Assistance Program and could affect Medicaid program costs and enrollment. Committee Republicans said the change could increase Medicaid costs at the end of the fiscal year; Democrats supported advancing the bill out of committee for further consideration on the House floor.

A committee staff member provided an overview of bills before the panel and described HB 583’s purpose: to expand adult dental services under the Medical Assistance Program to cover “at least all of the same dental services that were in place prior to September 2011.”

During consideration, a Republican member said the panel had timing and cost concerns. “We do have some concerns with the this bill given that we are in the final week of our fiscal year knowing that we have, challenges with current Medicaid costs and the potential enrollment increases that this bill could create. So, therefore, all Republicans will be voting no on house bill 5 83,” the Republican member said.

A Democratic member announced Democrats would vote in favor; the committee chair then announced that HB 583 passed the committee and was re-referred to the full House.

Discussion versus action: committee debate centered on fiscal risk and potential enrollment impacts (discussion). The committee took formal action to advance HB 583 to the House (formal action). No roll-call by individual member names or a numerical tally was provided in the transcript; votes were recorded by party position.

Next steps: HB 583 was rereferred to the House for further consideration.