NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3244B
SPONSOR: Woerner TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to requirements for
licensure as a dentist
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to provide a near-term boost to the pool of
dentists practicing in underserved areas while also providing a viable
pathway to licensure for qualified dentists from other jurisdictions who
seek to work in New York in the field of public health dentistry.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one: amends subdivision four of section 6605 of the education
law to provide for renewal of a limited permit to practice dentistry for
individuals practicing in a preceptorship program in a federally quali-
fied health care facility or similar facility; adds new subdivision 2-a
to authorize the department to issue a limited permit for instructing in
dentistry to eligible dentists licensed in another jurisdiction who
participate in a preceptorship program as a general practice preceptee
under the supervision of an eligible NYS-licensed dentist practicing in
a federally qualified health care facility or similar facility that
primarily serves an underserved population; and adds new subdivision 6
to provide for a pathway to licensure for a dentist that practices for
at least five years in accordance with this section.
Section two: amends subdivision three of section 6604 of the education
law to expand the "experience" standard to include satisfactory
completion of at least five years of practice as a dentist under a
limited permit in accordance with subdivisions 2 and 2-a of section 6605
of the education law; and amends subdivision six of section 6604 to
create parity with physicians and dentists by permitting the Board of
Regents to issue a limited waiver of citizenship requirements for
continued licensure of a dentist who holds an H-lb visa, an 0-1 visa, or
an equivalent or successor visa.
Section three: establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
According to the federal Health Resources and Services Administration
(HRSA), New York State currently has 161 dental Health Practitioner
Shortage Areas (HPSAs), including 117 designated HPSA facilities and 44
designated HPSA population groups (mostly Medicaid eligible popula-
tions).1 As a result, NYS currently meets only 16.15% of the documented
need, leading HRSA to. estimate that New York needs an additional 588
dentists.2 Despite these challenges, current Department of Education
regulations require all dentists who have graduated dental school to
complete a one-year graduate residency program before they can become
licensed in New York. This requirement applies to both new and experi-
enced dentists, meaning that even dentists with years of practice expe-
rience in another jurisdiction must currently complete a graduate resi-
dency program before qualifying to practice here.
New York's residency mandate, which is an outlier among other states,
represents yet another barrier to attracting dentists to practice in
high need areas in New York State. In fact, despite annually graduating
among the highest number of dentists in the country, New York continues
to struggle to meet the needs of low-income, rural and developmentally
disabled patients. In addition to the residency mandate, other barriers
include a net annual out-migration of New York dentists,3 a decline in
CODA*-accredited dental residency programsa (which have traditionally
served as a reliable resource for services to Medicaid recipients), too
few dentists practicing in rural and high need areas,5 the exorbitant
costs of attending dental school6 and establishing a dental practice,
perennially insufficient Medicaid reimbursement rates, and a wave of
dentist retirements in the wake of the pandemic.
This bill offers an immediate boost to access to quality services by
offering certain dentists a five-year track to becoming licensed in New
York'. Qualified dentists who have trained outside of the United States,
but who are not eligible to apply for licensure by endorsement, may opt
to join the full-time faculty of a dental school or to complete a
preceptorship in a hospital or clinic setting in a dental HPSA for a
five-year period rather than complete a graduate residency program. Upon
completion of the five-year period of supervised practice, such dentists
will be deemed eligible to apply directly for New York State licensure.
By offering this alternative pathway to licensure,'New York's ability to
attract qualified dentists will demonstrably improve.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.8363 of 2024 - Referred to Higher Education
S.9216 of 2024 - Referred to Higher Education
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately. *CODA is the Commission on
Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association.
1 Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of
Health & Human Services. Health Workforce Shortage Areas,
https://data.hrsa.gov/topics/health-workforce/shortage-areas. Data as of
12/9/2024.
2 Bureau of Health Workforce, Health Resources and Services Adminis-
tration, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Designated Health
Professional Shortage Areas Statistics, Fourth Quarter of Fiscal Year
2024 Designated HPSA Quarterly Summary. As of September 30, 2024.
3 Health Policy Institute, American Dental Association. U.S. Dentist
Migration Dashboard, https://www,ada.org/resources/research/health-
policy-institute/dentist-mi gration-dashboard . Accessed online on
1/15/2025.
4 Health Policy Institute, American Dental Association, Trends in
Advanced Education in General Practice Residency Programs in the U.S.,
December 2021. See www.ADA.org/HPI.
5 Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of
Health & Human Services. HPSA Designations. HPSA Find. See
https://data,hrsa.gov/tools/shortage-area/hpsa-find,
6 Whereas the average medical school graduate in 2023 owes $265,000, the
average dental student in 2023 owes $296,500, See
https://educationdata.org/average-medical-school-debt and
https://educationdata.org/averagedental-school-debt. Accessed on
12/10/2024.
