|
|
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
|
Governor [Huntsman] raising private funds for dental bill
|
|---|
| Parent(s) |
Issue
|
| Contributor | particleman |
| Last Edited | particleman Jun 09, 2006 01:03am |
| Logged |
0
|
| Category | General |
| Media | Newspaper - Salt Lake Tribune |
| News Date | Friday, June 9, 2006 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. may have figured out a way to fix poor Utahns' teeth with, or without, the blessing of Republican lawmakers.
Details are scant. But the Republican governor says an anonymous philanthropist has agreed to donate $1 million to the cause of providing emergency dental care to 40,000 elderly, blind and disabled Utahns on Medicaid. The donor doesn't plan to write the check until Huntsman finds another $1 million.
The governor hopes to convince religious groups, charitable health clinics and private dentists to kick in that second $1 million. "I feel strongly about this issue and we need to get it paid for.
I have no choice now but to look at private options," Huntsman said Thursday in an interview with The Tribune. "There is nothing optional about dental. It is a core health issue, without which you have a host of complications and you can't function in the marketplace." Still in the making, Huntsman's plan is meant to be a one-year fix for vulnerable Medicaid patients who, come July 1, would otherwise lose their dental coverage. Legislative leaders have repeatedly rejected funding so-called "optional" dental and vision care, arguing that Medicaid costs are spiraling out of control.
[snip]
During his next trip to Washington, Huntsman said he will lobby U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, Utah's former governor, to rethink federal labeling of dental care as an optional service.
|
| Share |
|
|
2¢
|
|
| Article | Read Full Article |
|
| Date |
Category |
Headline |
Article |
Contributor |
|
|
