JEFFERSON CITY — Access to health care continues to be a tremendous concern, especially in

Missouri, where we rank 36th in the nation. In our rural areas, which includes most of the 29th Senatorial District, our citizens are having a hard time getting an appointment to see a physician or other healthcare provider. With this in mind, and the addition of an aging population, access to medical care will continue to be a concern for our citizens.

I believe our country was founded on self-reliance and not government reliance. It is time to consider options rather than the government. Under my measure, Senate Bill 129, the Volunteer Health Services Act, a health care provider, physician, nurse, pharmacist, or other medical provider can provide volunteer care with no compensation for a sponsoring organization with legal protection from frivolous lawsuits or civil damages.

There are many health care providers around our state who want to help their fellow citizens. For many of them, this is why they chose their profession. They are willing to give their time and talent for free to provide charitable health care to those in need.

Under current law, these providers, even if they are not compensated, are forced to provide their own liability insurance to protect themselves from lawsuits.  The result is that they are prevented from donating their service because of the high cost of liability protection.

Unfortunately, there are rare instances when a provider deliberately acts in a way that could be harmful to their patients. For this reason, I included protections for patients in the measure. A health care provider could not act outside his or her scope of practice and liability protection would be waived if the provider intentionally ignores the safety of their patients. I know of many retired healthcare providers who want to give of their time and knowledge to help people with their healthcare needs and I believe SB 129 will enable them to do so.

Another bill I sponsored, and is on the governor’s desk to sign, is Senate Bill 127, which will simplify and streamline dental care under the current MOHealthNet system for eligible recipients. It is important for legislators to carefully consider how every tax dollar is spent. We need to ensure that every state program is running efficiently and is cost effective. One program I identified as in desperate need of reform was our MOHealthNet dental program. Currently, reimbursements are well below usual fees, and even below overhead in many cases, and the system is too complicated. This discourages dentists from signing up as MOHealthNet providers, which leaves many children and patients desperately in need of dental care without a provider in their area.

In my pharmacy practice, I have seen many patients that have been to the emergency room and are provided two prescriptions, an antibiotic and pain medicine, for a dental infection. The infection goes away but without follow-up dental care, I see that same patient a few weeks later who has been to the emergency room again and been given prescriptions for the same problem. This is certainly not efficient care for our citizens.

To streamline the system and make it more efficient, SB 127 adds Missouri to the 16 states which have implemented a dental “carve out.” In this arrangement, funding for dental services is “carved out” of the MOHealthNet budget. This funding is directly provided to a single dental managed care company that develops a network of dentists to provide services to patients in all 114 counties in the state. Every state that has implemented a dental carve out has seen an increase in provider participation and utilization. This not only streamlines the current program by removing layers of bureaucracy but also creates a single set of rules that apply to all patients and providers.

As a state, we should be encouraging and making it easier for healthcare professionals to help their fellow citizens. Senate Bill 129 and Senate Bill 127 accomplish this goal. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of our fellow Missourians without unnecessary interference from state bureaucracy, and at no cost to the state.

As always, I welcome your ideas, questions and concerns about Missouri government. You may contact me at the State Capitol as follows: (573) 751-1480; david.sater@senate.mo.gov; or by writing to Sen. David Sater, Missouri State Capitol, Room 433, Jefferson City, MO 65101.