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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Garcia, MH
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
01/23/07
HB 135
SHORT TITLE Southeast NM Mobile Dental Health Clinics
SB
ANALYST Geisler
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY07
FY08
$237.4
Recurring
General
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates: Senate Bill 173
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
House Bill 135 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.
pg_0002
House Bill 135 – 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 HB135 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
House Bill 135 is duplicated by Senate Bill 173.
GG/mt