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

SPONSOR Papen

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

01/23/07

HB

SHORT TITLE Southeast NM Mobile Dental Health Clinics

SB 173

ANALYST Geisler

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$237.4

Recurring

General

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates: House Bill 135

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY07

FY08

FY09 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

$262.6

$47.6 $310.2* Recurring General

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

*See fiscal implications for explanation.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Health (DOH)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 173 would appropriate $237,400 from the General Fund to the Department of Health

(DOH) in Fiscal Year 2008 to operate mobile dental health clinics in southern New Mexico.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY 2008 shall revert to the

General Fund.

Senate Bill 173 – Page

2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation included in this bill is not part of the Department’s FY08 operating budget re-

quest.

DOH notes that the $237,400 allocated in the bill may be insufficient to establish such a mobile

dental clinic. The Mobile Health Clinics Network estimates that to construct and operate a basic

two-chair mobile dental clinic could cost in excess of $500,000. The cost includes first-time ex-

penses for construction, staffing and operational expenses. As a result, there would be an addi-

tional operational budget impact of $262.6 thousand in FY08. In subsequent years, the annual

cost to operate and maintain the mobile dental clinic would be a minimum of $285,000. Assum-

ing that the $237.4 thousand in funding contained in the bill is recurring, an additional $47.6

thousand would be needed in FY09 to operate the clinic.

DOH estimated that a dentist, a dental hygienist, and two dental assistants would be needed to

staff the clinic. Other expenditures would include vehicle maintenance and storage, dental sup-

plies, administrative coordination of scheduling and locations, and recordkeeping.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

While oral disease may be the most preventable health condition affecting the U.S. population,

the oral health of minorities and the underserved remains poor. Sufficient tools and technology

exist to prevent and control oral disease, but the outcomes have not reflected these advances.

Tooth decay is the most common childhood disease, being five times more common than asthma.

Annually, 56 million school hours are lost as a result of dental disease among children.

The 2000 New Mexico Children’s Oral Health Survey has identified that 65% of New Mexico

children have experienced tooth decay and 37% have untreated tooth decay. The New Mexico

Oral Health Surveillance System Report has identified that 64% of New Mexico adults have seen

a dentist. Forty-three percent of adults ages 64 or older have lost six or more teeth due to decay

or gum disease.

A serious shortage of dental providers exists throughout the state. Most of the counties, either in

specific populations or the entire county, have been designated as dental health professional

shortage areas (HPSA). These include the southern counties of Lea, Eddy, Otero, portions of

Dona Ana, Luna, Hidalgo, low-income populations of Grant, and Sierra.

The intent of SB 173 is to help address this problem by establishing a mobile dental health clinic

to provide dental services to the citizens of southern New Mexico who do not have dental insur-

ance and are suffering from untreated dental disease.

DUPLICATION

Senate Bill 173 is duplicated by House Bill 135.

GG/mt