Senate Community Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #1246 UF/Dental Student Loan Assistance program
Requester:	Frank A. Catalanotto		Organization:		UF Health Science Center/College of Dentistry
Project Title:	UF/Dental Student Loan Assistance program		Date Submitted:		01/31/2000 8:45:06 AM
District Member:	George Kirkpatrick		Service Area:		Statewide
Counties Affected:	{Statewide}
Recipient:	UF College of Dentistry		Contact:		Frank Catalanotto, DMD
	1600 SW Archer Road		Contact Phone:		(352) 392-2911
	Gainesville 32610
Project Description:
Extremely low access to oral health care exists in rural and metropolitan communities where low income is prevalent. Many communities have few or no Medicaid dental providers. This observation is particularly critical in light of the finding that children of Medicaid recipients experience a high level of dental decay. Additionally, there are many area of Florida that have severe shortages of dentists regardless of community income. There are several important factors that cause this current circumstance. An innovative approach to stimulate dental practice in low-income and/or underserved communities is needed. Such a program would take into consideration the conditions of new graduate indebtedness and the need for practititioners to locate in communities of critical oral health need. It should also be designed to provide an incentive for dentists to remain in these communities for their entire professional career. Assistance would be based on establishing a private practice in a community designated as "dentally underserved." This designation typically is associated with a rural community, ,but could also be in an underserved metropolitan community. The State Medicaid office and the DOH would determine the criteria for this designation. Establishment of a qualifying private practice would allow a maximum of the practitioner's student loan to be paid in any one year. Only the first six years in practice would qualify for loan assistance. The practitioner would be responsible for any outstanding loan amount after the initial six years in practice. The Florida Medicaid office would provide verification of participation in a low-income pratice through paid claims data. Partial assistance may be extended to graduates who are employed in a designated area. The maximum assistance for this activity would be limited to 15% per year over a four year period. The rationale for this reduced assistance is that it is less likely to produce a practitioner who is committed to the community, and there is less risk associated with employment when compared to initiating a dental practice. Employment may include association in practice, employment with a State agency, or employment with a Federal agency. Loan repayment would remain the responsibility of the inidividual. Loan assistance would be provided for individuals that qualified and were selected for the program.
Services Provided/Benefit to State:
Loan assistance recipients would provide oral health services to Medicaid enrollees in areas where there is low or no access to dental services (27% of Medicaid recipients have at least one dental appointment per year.) This proposal would benefit the State of Florida by positioning dentists to provide services to low access Medicaid recipients and establishing a long-term solution to low dental acess and poor provider distribution.
Measurable Outcome Anticipated:
Services: Year 1 - $400,000 new services provided. Year 2 - $800,000 new services provided. Year 3 - $1,200,000 new services provided. Year 4 - $1,600,000 new services provided. Access: 2 - 3% increase in dental Medicaid access statewide after 5 years (estimated).
Amount requested from the State for this project this year:				$150,000
Total cost of the project:		$150,000

Request has been made to fund:			Operations
Is there Local Government or Private match for this request?					Unknown
Was this project previously funded by the State?					No
Is future-year funding likely to be requested?					Yes
	Amount:	$270,000
	Purpose for future year funding:			Recurring Operations
	Will this be an annual request?				Yes
Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request?					No
Was this project included in the Governor's Recommended Budget?					No
Is there a documented need for this project?					Yes
	Documentation:	See Project Description Above.
Was this project request heard before a publicly noticed meeting of a body of elected officials (municipal, county, or state)?					No