Overview
Arkansas maintains a statewide all-payer claims database, established under the Arkansas Healthcare Transparency Initiative Act of 2015 which mandates collection of medical, dental, pharmacy, and other insurance claims information, including enrollment and provider data, from various entities.
Arkansas was also among the first states to recognize the benefits of telemedicine when it passed the Telemedicine Parity Law in 2015, requiring that a health benefit plan provide coverage and reimbursement for healthcare services provided through telemedicine on the same basis as health services provided in person. Since the coronavirus pandemic, the state further amended telemedicine laws to permanently extend emergency measures enacted for the duration of the pandemic that allows providers to treat patients via telehealth without first conducting an in-person exam.
To promote competition and limit market power in provider markets, Arkansas enacted the Healthcare Contracting Simplification Act in 2019, which prohibits the use of most-favored nation and all-products clauses in provider-insurer contracts. The state additionally requires court approval of mergers involving certain public benefit or religious corporations.
Arkansas also leads the nation in the regulation of pharmacy benefit managers in the pharmaceutical industry. The Arkansas Pharmacy Benefits Manager Licensure Act of 2018 addresses the lack of transparency among PBMs by placing comprehensive licensure and oversight over PBMs, as well as banning PBM “gag clauses” that prevent pharmacists from discussing the total price of a drug or cheaper alternatives. Another PBM law, however, became the subject of a Supreme Court case (Rutledge v. PCMA) that may have lasting impact for state regulation of healthcare prices. Act 900 (SB 688) was originally enacted in 2015 and required the disclosure of generic drug pricing and set a floor on prices that PBMs can pay to pharmacies for generic drugs. The drug pricing law was challenged by PCMA on the grounds of ERISA preemption and was struck down by the District Court of Arkansas in 2017 and affirmed by the 8th Circuit on appeal. The Supreme Court, however, overturned the decision and upheld the state law as permissible price regulation under ERISA.
See below for an overview of existing Arkansas state mandates. Click on citation tab for detailed information of specific statutes (click link to download statute text).
State Action
Latest Legislative Session: 1/9/2023 - 3/10/2023 (2023 term). *Current session bill updates are ongoing. Check back weekly for updates.
HB 1907 – Arkansas
Introduced: 2021 Status: Enacted
To Enable Healthcare Providers To Make Appropriate Billing Decisions That Are In The Best Interest Of Patients; And To Establish The Billing In The Best Interest Of Patients Act. The healthcare payor shall not impose …
HB 1954 – Arkansas
Introduced: 2019 Status: Inactive / Dead
To Amend The Arkansas Health Care Consumer Act.
HB 1975 – Arkansas
Introduced: 2019 Status: Inactive / Dead
To Establish The Medicaid Reimbursement Rate Review Act Of 2019; To Provide For Annual Medicaid Reimbursement Rate Reviews Of Medicaid Reimbursement Rates And Methodologies; And To Declare An Emergency.
SB 112 – Arkansas
Introduced: 2023 Status: Enacted
To Authorize Physician Assistants To Be Identified As A Treating Provider For Insurance Billing And Claims And To Bill And Receive Payment For Provided Healthcare Services.
SB 122 (see companion bill HB 1259) – Arkansas
Introduced: 2023 Status: Inactive / Dead
To Create The Healthcare Cost-sharing Collections Act.
Ark. Code § 11-2-122. Disclosure to employees: Department of Labor — General Provisions – Arkansas
Introduced: Status: Enacted
Any employer or owner who does make available any health benefits to employees, excluding workers’ compensation, shall inform and notify the employees of the nature of those benefits as to those benefits being self-insured, fully insured, or Employee Retirement Income Security …
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Ark. Code § 17-105-107. Scope of authority – Delegatory authority – Agent of supervising physician: Physician Assistants – Arkansas
Introduced: Status: Enacted
Physician assistants provide healthcare services with physician supervision. The supervising physician shall be identified on all prescriptions and orders. Physician assistants may perform those duties and responsibilities, including prescribing, ordering, and administering drugs and medical …
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Ark. Code § 17-105-108. Prescriptive authority: Physician Assistants – Arkansas
Introduced: Status: Enacted
Physicians supervising physician assistants may delegate prescriptive authority to physician assistants to include prescribing, ordering, and administering Schedule III-V controlled substances.
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Ark. Code § 17-92-1201. Arkansas Pharmacy Audit Bill of Rights: Arkansas Pharmacy Audit Bill of Rights – Arkansas
Introduced: Status: Enacted
Sets forth the Arkansas Pharmacy Audit Bill of Rights, which, among other rights, states that when an audit of the records of a pharmacy is conducted by a managed-care company, an insurance company, a third-party …
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Ark. Code § 17-95-206. Out-of-state physicians: Arkansas Medical Practices Act– General Provisions – Arkansas
Introduced: Status: Enacted
A physician who is physically located outside this state but who through the use of any medium, including an electronic medium, performs an act that is part of a patient care service initiated in this state, …
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In re: Suboxone Antitrust Litigation (State of Wisconsin, et al. v. Indivior Inc, et al.) – Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin
District Court: E.D. Pennsylvania Status: Pending
In September 2016, 35 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia brought a multi-district case against pharmaceutical manufacturer Indivior, MonoSol RX et al., alleging …
In Re: Generic Pharmaceuticals Pricing Antitrust Litigation – Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin
District Court: Eastern District of Pennsylvania Status: Pending
Plaintiffs are attorney generals from 48 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia, as well as classes of private plaintiffs that filed an antitrust …
Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) v. Rutledge – Arkansas
District Court: Eastern District of Arkansas Status: Decided
Act 900 (SB 688), enacted in 2015, required disclosure of generic drug pricing and sets a floor on prices that PBMs can pay to pharmacies …
Additional Resources
STATE BUDGET
Arkansas enacts budgets on a two-year cycle, beginning July 1 of each odd-numbered year and is valid through June 30 of the following year. To view Arkansas’ Department of Health Budget, click here.
KEY RESOURCES