This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
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.
The Republican-led Legislature refused to even consider restoring dental at a special session last month, but diverted $15 million for an underground Capitol Hill parking garage. The move has drawn fire from the public, the majority of whom a recent public opinion poll said favored spending taxpayer dollars on the exams, fillings and root canals for the poor.
Lawmakers are still smarting from the special session, which may have cemented resistance to funding dental assistance in the future.
"It is fair to say there is some frustration," said House Speaker Greg Curtis, who has spoken with Huntsman once since the session. He reminded the governor that many members of the House are up for re-election.
Huntsman has no regrets, however, and is optimistic he will be able to work with legislators toward a broader, more permanent fix.
"I refuse to see this through a political prism. I don't play politics with this or anything else," he said. "It would have been disingenuous of me not to place it on a special [session agenda] when I said all along that I would." 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.