Wis. governor authorizes $10M for dental outreach

May 16, 2010

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle has signed into law legislation that will help increase access to dental care for children and families living in rural Wisconsin by recruiting and training more dentists to work in rural and undeserved areas.

Senate Bill 656 provides that before July 1, 2015, the State Building Commission must authorize up to $10 million in bonding authority in the form of a grant to the Marshfield Clinic to aid in the construction of a rural dental education outreach facility in Marshfield. Under the bill, the Marshfield Clinic must also secure an additional $10 million in matching funding from nonstate sources for the project.

The bill builds on Governor Doyle's work over the past seven years to increase access to dental care and expand the state's dental workforce. Since 2006, the Department of Health Services (DHS) has awarded $7.2 million in grants to 28 projects across Wisconsin to either build new dental clinics or expand existing services. In addition, DHS has certified dental hygienists as Medicaid providers, so they can receive reimbursement for fluoride varnishes and sealants, and created the dental navigator program to help Medicaid patients find a dentist willing to treat them.

"This issue has created important dialogue in the Legislature regarding the need to improve access to oral health care for the state's most vulnerable individuals," said Kent Vandehaar, D.D.S., president of the Wisconsin Dental Association (WDA), in a statement. "However, this proposal is just a small piece of the access puzzle, which has received a great deal of attention from policymakers.

"There is much more to do to truly ensure Wisconsinites living in rural and disadvantaged areas can get the quality dental care they need. More can and should be done to make basic dental health care practical and cost-efficient so all individuals receive appropriate care. While the Marshfield proposal may be one step, the WDA continues to believe that the most direct and effective way to solve this issue is for the state to provide adequate funding for its dental Medicaid/BadgerCare program. Without adequate funding, our state’s dental access crisis will continue to worsen."