An Act increasing access to MassHealth dental providers, the official text

	SECTION 1. Chapter 118E of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after Section 82 the following section:-
	SECTION 83. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, and subject to appropriation, the secretary of health and human services shall provide MassHealth supplemental payments to eligible MassHealth-participating dental providers who render covered dental services to an additional ten or greater MassHealth beneficiaries age 21 and older in a given year compared to the number of MassHealth beneficiaries they provided services to in the prior year.
	(b) The supplemental payment established in section (a) shall initially be set at $31 for the first year and shall be distributed to eligible dental providers as a rate add-on for each patient encounter in which a MassHealth-covered dental service is administered to an actively enrolled MassHealth beneficiary age 21 and older. The payment rate shall be subject to re-evaluation by the secretary of health and human services under Section 13C and 13D of this chapter.
	(c) The supplemental payment established in section (a) shall be available to providers located in ten specific municipalities that are designated by the secretary of health and human services as having a high number or proportion of MassHealth enrollees and low rates of utilization of dental services.
	(d) To be eligible for supplemental payments a dental provider must meet each of the following criteria:
	(1) Be a dentist or public health dental hygienist licensed in the state of Massachusetts.
	(2) Be enrolled with MassHealth as an approved billing provider.
	(3) Provide dental services to a minimum of ten additional MassHealth beneficiaries age 21 and older than the number of MassHealth beneficiaries the dental provider provided services to in the previous year.
	(4) Provide dental services at a location in eligible municipalities, as determined by the secretary of health and human services under section (c).
	(e) MassHealth shall promulgate regulations to implement this section. These regulations shall define provider-eligible municipalities using available data on past year MassHealth enrollment and utilization.