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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Rodella
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
2/20/2007
HB 881
SHORT TITLE Dental Hygienist Student Loan for Service
SB
ANALYST McOlash
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY07
FY08
NFI
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Relates to HB 242/SB 560 and SB 35.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Department of Health (DOH)
Higher Education Department (HED)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 881 amends the Allied Health Student Loan for Service Act (Section 21-22C-3
NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1994, Chapter 57, Section 5) to add “dental hygiene" to the definition
of Allied Health Profession.
The bill also provides updating language by substituting the word “department" for the word
“commission" to be consistent with the change from the Higher Education Commission to the
Higher Education Department.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
New Mexico has a serious shortage of dental providers throughout the state. Twenty-six of the
state’s 33 counties have been designated, in whole or in part, as Dental Health Professional
Shortage Areas (DHPSAs) by the federal government. The proposed addition of dental
hygienists is designed to provide additional personnel to help meet this critical need.
pg_0002
House Bill 881 – Page
2
The Allied Health Loan for Service funds would be available to dental hygiene students to
finance their educations and repay their loans with service in New Mexico.
The HED analysis indicates the University of New Mexico (UNM) and San Juan College (SJC)
offer dental hygiene programs in New Mexico. Economically, the demand for dental hygienists
continues to grow. There are dental assistant programs located at Eastern New Mexico
University-Roswell and the University of New Mexico-Gallup. The average annual income for
dental hygienists is $55,000.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
House Bill 242/Senate Bill 560 enact the Dental Hygienist Student Loan for Service. The bills
creates the Dental Hygienist Loan fund, establishes framework for hygienists’ loans for service
provided to the underserved areas in the state of New Mexico, mandates annual reporting of the
program’s status to the Executive and Legislature, and provides penalties for service loans in
default. However, these bills carry no appropriation but create a new fund and provides for
continuing appropriations.
House Bill 881 and HB 242 are not interchangeable. HB 242 is more comprehensive but would
need appropriations to be of benefit to dental hygienists.
Senate Bill 35 appropriates $1,530,000 for dental hygiene programs.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
In order to increase dental health care in rural areas, the Legislature passed the Collaborative
Practices Dental Hygienists Act which allows dental hygienists to practice without general
supervision by, but in a working relationship with, a licensed dentist.
The New Mexico Health Service Corps (NMHSC) provides stipends to health professionals in
exchange for a commitment to work in underserved areas. Dental hygienists are eligible for, and
participate in this DOH program.
BM/csd