A bill moving through the Kentucky Legislature would make fluoride treatment of drinking water optional for local municipalities.
Parliamentary Bill 141 would repeal a mandate that currently requires Kentucky cities with three thousand or more residents to add fluoride to their drinking water.
Health advocacy groups and even some dental insurers have voiced opposition to the legislation.
Whitney Dietz is a dentist with practices in Davis and McCracken counties. He said he expects tooth decay rates to increase dramatically, particularly among children, if the bill becomes law.
“We see maybe three cavity events per child if there is no fluoride,” Dietz said. “That’s eight cavities per child, in one study. So when I heard that our state government was considering making this optional, I was amazed. I was absolutely shocked.”
Supporters of the bill, including co-sponsor state Rep. William Lawrence – R-Maysville – have called fluoride “forced medication.”
They argue that the legislation aims to give local governments the ability to choose whether or not to fluoridate their water supply.
Dietz said that, since the pandemic, the number of pediatric dentists in the state has dwindled — and challenges in the ability of dental health providers to participate in Medicaid and Medicare have exacerbated the problem.
He said he regularly reviews charts for hundreds of children doing volunteer work in communities and schools.
“I see kids with bombed-out non-restorable permanent molars,” Dietz said, “kids who are in pain, kids who have abscesses.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, community water fluoridation has saved states about $6.5 billion a year by reducing the cost of dental treatment – including tooth restorations and extractions, and indirect economic losses such as lost worker productivity.
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United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra and U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo – D-Thornton – recently visited the Salud Family Health Centersmobile clinic.
Each year, Salud serves up to two thousand migrant farmers who travel from other states and countries to plant and harvest leafy greens, corn, wheat, sugar beets and other crops in North Central and Northeast Colorado.
Principal Deborah Salazar said her team always receives a very warm welcome.
“And it’s usually the same guys coming to the same farms or greenhouses,” Salazar said. “And so it’s like seeing old friends. They know who we are, they know what we can do for them, and they trust us. There’s trust because we’ve been doing this for a long time.”
In addition to the 12 health centers and ten school sites, the mobile unit provides primary health services three to four evenings a week – mostly in rural areas.
They screen workers for diabetes, hypertension, cervical cancer and anemia. Employees can also get lab tests and flu and tetanus shots.
Salud is a federal community health center that provides medical, dental, pharmaceutical and behavioral health services to all patients regardless of their ability to pay.
The first clinic on wheels was acquired in 1980, and Salazar said a brand new unit is on the way in 2022.
She said her team works to build relationships with farm owners and supervisors to find the best time to schedule a visit.
“If they need us to come out and start our mobile unit visit at 7 p.m., we can do that,” Salazar said. “We’re extremely flexible, because we don’t want to interrupt their workday.”
Salazar said the mobile unit’s medical staff may be the only people the migrant workers see when they’re not out planting and harvesting crops.
“These are the people who put food on our table,” Salazar said. “Offering them quality, comprehensive health care – and going to them so they’re taken care of – that’s the least we can do.”
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After more than 50 years of use, some Michigan lawmakers say naloxone may not be the best choice in an overdose.
Naloxone is sometimes called the “Lazarus drug” because of its powerful ability to seemingly resurrect people after drug overdoses.
Sen. Kevin Hertel, D-St. Clair Shores and some of his colleagues have introduced a bill that would open the door to what they say are more expensive, but more powerful, antidotes.
“Given the prevalence of fentanyl in our communities and how much stronger some of these drugs are that we’re seeing now, we believe — and are discussing with others — that there should be other tools to respond to overdose.” Hertel explained. “To make sure we do everything we can to save someone’s life.”
Not everyone agrees with the proposed legislation, Senate Bill 542. Opponents have argued that more expensive alternatives to naloxone are unnecessary and their use would only increase profits for the pharmaceutical industry.
Jonathan Stoltman, its director Opioid Policy Institute in Grand Rapids, said that while naloxone alternatives help in overdose situations, they can also cause unpleasant side effects.
“Newer approaches put people into more severe withdrawal,” Stoltman pointed out. “That’s a pretty profound negative side effect. One approach is very cheap and works great; the other approach is much more expensive and has this strong negative side effect.”
The bill’s sponsors say they hope to give Michigan residents a chance to discuss the issue at a public hearing sometime in June. he saw michigan more than 3,000 Opioid overdose deaths in 2021.
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New Mexico sets record enrollment numbers for the Affordable Care Act this year and now aims to reduce out-of-pocket costs — those not covered by insurance. More than 56,000 New Mexicans are enrolled in a health insurance plan on the state exchange – an increase of 12,000 people overall.
Colin Baillio, deputy superintendent at the state’s Bureau of Insurance, said the state has strengthened its reach and made efforts to improve the overall consumer experience.
“We saw a 40% year-over-year increase, and New Mexico saw the largest percentage increase during the open enrollment period among all state markets,” he explained.
Part of the enrollment increase is due to what’s called “unwinding” — a federal directive that required all states to redefine Medicaid eligibility after a three-year pause in checks during the COVID pandemic. He said that using expanded tools available from the federal and state governments, 8 percent of New Mexico’s population is now uninsured — up from 23 percent in 2010.
After being approved by lawmakers in the 2024 legislative session, New Mexico’s governor signed seven bills related to health care — one of which requires an annual report prescription drug pricing;. Baililo said the Affordable Care Act laid the groundwork that allowed the state to pursue additional affordability initiatives.
“I’m really glad to see that there’s so much interest in the next step of health reform, really supporting these cost issues and making it easier for people to afford to stay covered and see their doctors,” he continues.
Two years ago, the state also passed a unique law that eliminated behavioral health co-pays for people in certain insurance plans.
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