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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1995 FILED ON: 1/20/2023
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 779
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Paul W. Mark
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act increasing access to MassHealth dental providers.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Paul W. MarkBerkshire, Hampden, Franklin and
Hampshire
Susannah M. Whipps2nd Franklin2/13/2023Joanne M. ComerfordHampshire, Franklin and Worcester2/13/2023Vanna Howard17th Middlesex2/13/2023James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/16/2023John Barrett, III1st Berkshire2/21/2023Adam GomezHampden2/22/2023Jason M. LewisFifth Middlesex3/7/2023John J. CroninWorcester and Middlesex3/8/2023Sal N. DiDomenicoMiddlesex and Suffolk3/10/2023 1 of 2
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1995 FILED ON: 1/20/2023
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 779
By Mr. Mark, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 779) of Paul W. Mark, Susannah M.
Whipps, Joanne M. Comerford, Vanna Howard and other members of the General Court for
legislation to increase access to MassHealth dental providers. Health Care Financing.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act increasing access to MassHealth dental providers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Chapter 118E of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
2Section 82 the following section:-
3 SECTION 83. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, and subject
4to appropriation, the secretary of health and human services shall provide MassHealth
5supplemental payments to eligible MassHealth-participating dental providers who render
6covered dental services to an additional ten or greater MassHealth beneficiaries in a given year
7compared to the number of beneficiaries they provided services to in the prior year.
8 (b) The supplemental payment established in section (a) shall initially be set at $31 for
9the first year and shall be distributed to eligible dental providers as a rate add-on for each patient
10encounter in which a MassHealth-covered dental service are administered to an actively enrolled
11MassHealth beneficiary. The payment rate shall be subject to re-evaluation by the secretary of
12health and human services under Section 13C and 13D of this chapter. 2 of 2
13 (c) The supplemental payment established in section (a) will be available to providers
14located in twenty specific municipalities that are designated by the secretary of health and human
15services as having a high number or proportion of MassHealth enrollees and low rates of
16utilization of dental services.
17 (d) To be eligible for supplemental payments dental providers must meet each of the
18following criteria:
19 (1) Be a dentist or public health dental hygienists licensed in the state of Massachusetts.
20 (2) Be enrolled with MassHealth as an approved billing provider.
21 (3) Provide dental services to a minimum of ten additional MassHealth beneficiaries than
22the number of beneficiaries the dental provider provided services to in the previous year.
23 (4) Provide dental services at a location in eligible municipalities, as determined by the
24secretary of health and human services under section (c).
25 (e) MassHealth shall promulgate regulations to implement this section. These regulations
26shall define provider-eligible municipalities using available data on past year MassHealth
27enrollment and utilization.