Bill > H0139

This bill establishes a joint local and state initiative to create dental care access accounts, which are individual benefit accounts for dentists practicing in designated dental health professional shortage areas or medically underserved areas, or who treat a medically underserved population, with the goal of improving oral health and promoting economic development. The Department of Health (DOH) will implement an electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system for these accounts, which can be used for student loan repayment, purchasing property, facilities, or equipment for a dental office, or covering transitional expenses for opening a practice. State funds, subject to legislative appropriation, will be awarded to these accounts, with a maximum of $100,000 per account, and these state awards cannot exceed three times the amount contributed from local sources, which can include a dentist's salary and employer expenditures if not from state funds. The Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) will rank shortage and medically underserved areas based on how limited dental care access impedes economic development, and the DOH will develop a loan program in cooperation with dental colleges and the Florida Dental Association. Accounts will be closed after five years or if a dentist ceases practice in a designated area, terminates Medicaid participation, or engages in fraud, with any remaining state funds being transferred to other accounts and unspent local funds returned to donors. The bill also includes an appropriation for the DOH to administer the initiative and authorizes a new position.