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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 Huntsman 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 a check until Huntsman finds another $1 million, which he hopes during the next three weeks to pry from religious groups, charitable health clinics or practicing dentists.
"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."
The Republican governor wouldn't divulge the identity of the donor, but his spokesman Mike Mower said it is not Huntsman, nor any member of his family.
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 drew fire from the public, the majority of whom a recent poll said favored spending taxpayer dollars on the exams, fillings and root canals for the poor.
Lawmakers are still smarting from the whole affair, which may have cemented resistance to funding dental services 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 every member of the House and half the Senate are up for re-election.
Huntsman has no regrets, however, and is optimistic he will be able to work with legislators toward broader, more permanent reform.
"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.
Low-income advocate and health care reformist Judi Hilman says Huntsman's idea is worth exploring. But she says convincing the federal government to match private money with the $4.8 million needed to fully pay for dental "is a long shot."
Hilman also doubts Utah's 1,400 dentists would be willing to donate more charity care than they do already: $55 million annually, by some estimates.
But Huntsman's scheme may not involve the federal government or Utah's Medicaid program directly, said Mower, noting it could take shape as a wholly private endeavor.
"Since this is such a new possibility there is still some uncertainty about a few of the details," Mower said.
What's at stake:
65,000 low-income Utah adults will lose their dental services July 1 without emergency funding
What's happened
so far:
Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. proposed to cover dental services for 40,000 blind, disabled and elderly residents with a $2 million state appropriation and $4.8 million in matching federal funds
The Republican-controlled Legislature in a May 24 special session refused to debate the $2 million authorization
What's next:
Huntsman now is trying to raise private donations to cover some of the dental services