(a) The Commissioner of Social Services shall modify the extent of nonemergency adult dental services provided under the Medicaid program. Such modifications shall include, but are not limited to, providing one periodic dental exam, one dental cleaning and one set of bitewing x-rays each year for a healthy adult. For purposes of this section, “healthy adult” means a person twenty-one years of age or older for whom there is no evidence indicating that dental disease is an aggravating factor for the person's overall health condition.

(b) The commissioner may implement policies and procedures necessary to administer the provisions of this section while in the process of adopting such policies and procedures in regulation form, provided the commissioner prints notice of intent to adopt regulations in the Connecticut Law Journal not later than twenty days after the date of implementation. Such policies and procedures shall remain valid for three years following the date of publication in the Connecticut Law Journal unless otherwise provided for by the General Assembly. Notwithstanding the time frames established in subsection (c) of section 17b-10, the commissioner shall submit such policies and procedures in proposed regulation form to the legislative regulation review committee not later than three years following the date of publication of its intent to adopt regulations as provided for in this subsection. In the event that the commissioner is unable to submit proposed regulations prior to the expiration of the three-year time period as provided for in this subsection, the commissioner shall submit written notice, not later than thirty-five days prior to the date of expiration of such time period, to the legislative regulation review committee and the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to human services and appropriations and the budgets of state agencies indicating that the department will not be able to submit the proposed regulations on or before such date and shall include in such notice (1) the reasons why the department will not submit the proposed regulations by such date, and (2) the date by which the department will submit the proposed regulations. The legislative regulation review committee may require the department to appear before the committee at a time prescribed by the committee to further explain such reasons and to respond to any questions by the committee about the policy. The legislative regulation review committee may request the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to human services to review the department's policy, the department's reasons for not submitting the proposed regulations by the date specified in this section and the date by which the department will submit the proposed regulations. Said joint standing committee may review the policy, such reasons and such date, may schedule a hearing thereon and may make a recommendation to the legislative regulation review committee.

(P.A. 11-44, S. 81; 11-61, S. 158.)

History: P.A. 11-44 effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 11-61 amended Subsec. (a) by making a technical change in definition of “healthy adult”, effective July 1, 2011.