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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Garcia, M. H.

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/10/06

HB 172

SHORT TITLE Dental Hygiene Programs

SB

ANALYST Williams

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$1,530.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates SB 83

Relates to new initiative of $400.0 thousand in LFC budget recommendation for dental hygiene

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

Department of Health (DOH)

Health Policy Commission (HPC)

New Mexico Dental Association

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Endorsed by the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee.

House Bill 172 appropriates $1.53 million from the general fund for start up funding for dental

hygiene programs in the following amounts:

•

$525.0 thousand to the board of regents of New Mexico State University for Dona Ana

branch community college;

•

$525.0 thousand to the board of regents of Eastern New Mexico University for the Ros-

well branch campus;

•

$350.0 thousand for Luna Community College; and

•

$130.0 thousand to the Higher Education Department for a new interactive distance

education program for dental hygiene and dental assistance degree programs.

House Bill 172 – Page

2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $1.53 million contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general

fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2009 shall

revert to the general fund.

HED notes additional recurring funding will be needed for infrastructure, accreditation and ad-

ministration. HPC notes “two year dental hygiene programs are extremely expensive to set up

and run.”

HED notes possibility of $250,000 in federal funds for an interactive dental distance education

program.

In its budget request to the HED, ENMU requested a new program for dental hygiene collabora-

tive with UNM at $126.5 thousand and 2 FTE for a cohort of six students. NMSU had a new

program request for $200.0 thousand and a request to expand an existing program at an incre-

ment of $5.6 thousand. No other public, post-secondary institutions submitted requests for ex-

pansions or for new initiatives.

The New Mexico Dental Association notes “funding is for a three year period, after which the

programs will be fully accredited and state FTE funding through the state (higher education)

funding formula will support the program (similar to the program at San Juan College) so addi-

tional general fund appropriations will not be necessary.”

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

With respect to funding for HED to develop and implement an interactive distance education

program, HED notes “it is not in the mandate of HED to develop and implement specific degree

programs.”

New Mexico Dental Association notes “It is anticipated this money would be passed on to the

New Mexico Association of Community Colleges to develop the distance education program for

dental hygienists throughout the State similar to programs in other states. The infrastructure is

already in place throughout New Mexico.”

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

The bill does not specifically place an emphasis on linking the initiative to the state’s strategic

plans for health, economic development or higher education and does not address performance

accountability components, such as outcomes-oriented performance measures.

HED includes the suggestion of a performance measure related to program graduates finding

employment in New Mexico. DOH notes approximately 25% of New Mexico adults age 65 or

older have lost all their natural teeth, compared to the national target recommended by Healthy

People 2010 to have no more than 20 percent of this group having lost their natural teeth.

New Mexico Dental Association notes “DOH has indicated these bills are consistent with the

DOH strategic plan Program area 9, strategic direction: Objective 3: “increase the health work-

force supply in collaboration with other entities in New Mexico”.

House Bill 172 – Page

3

TECHNICAL ISSUES

HED notes “it is unclear why (start-up funds for a … program at Luna Community College)

would be routed through HED.”

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

HED notes in New Mexico, nearly 1/3 of the 1,074 licensed dentists have out-of-state addresses

or are over age 65. Further, New Mexico ranks 49

th

among states in the number of dentists per

1,000 people. HED notes the potential for “over saturation of the market” in rural areas.

HPC estimates New Mexico needs 228 new hygienists per year to meet the national guidelines of

1 hygienist to 2000 population. Also, New Mexico counties designated as oral health profes-

sional shortage areas: 30 of 33 counties.

HPC notes most of the hygienist positions in southern and southeastern New Mexico are being

taken by graduates of El Paso Community College and Amarillo Community College because

the pay is higher in New Mexico due to the shortage. These hygienists are not typically anesthe-

sia certified, so they cannot be fully utilized in New Mexico.

Existing dental hygienist programs are:

•

University of New Mexico, which accepts 24 students per year, and

•

San Juan Community College, which accepts 12 students per year.

Existing dental assistance programs are at:

•

Eastern New Mexico University, Roswell

•

University of New Mexico, Gallup

•

Albuquerque TVI (received preliminary provisional approval)

•

Santa Fe Community College (received preliminary provisional approval)

New Mexico statute required a licensed dental hygienist practice under the supervision of a li-

censed dentist. New Mexico Dental Association notes “Under the Collaborative Practice Act,

dental hygienists can have an independent office anywhere in the State as long as they have a

dentist sponsor.”

ALTERNATIVES

Laws of 1993, Chapter 389 (Senate Bill 370) established the higher education program develop-

ment enhancement fund to address critical state issues, including work force and professional

training, instructional program enhancements and development of mission-specific instructional

programs. This program development enhancement fund is intended to provide a planning and

prioritization framework as well as start-up funding for type of initiative.

Higher education institutions receive indirect cost revenues from federal contracts and grants.

Further, this money is unrestricted in the sense that the governing board of the institution has the

flexibility to choose which projects are supported with these funds One of the purposes of re-

taining these funds is to provide seed money and matching funds for projects such as those pro-

posed in this bill.

House Bill 172 – Page

4

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

1.

How many dental hygienists would enter the New Mexico labor market per year as a re-

sult of this funding proposal.

2.

What performance accountability would be required.

3.

Why are the appropriations to ENMU, Roswell and NMSU significantly larger than re-

quested through the HED research and public service project request process.

AW/nt:yr