Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee- House
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Transcript
1 document
Bills discussed (48)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
HB1768
Act 815
· 8 mentions in transcript, chapter
Matched: “…e whether we're going to do a Senate bill today or not. OK. House Bill 1768 committee.”
|
TO REQUIRE A SOLID WASTE LANDFILL CONTRACT RELATING TO A HOST FEE TO BE VOTED … | Lundstrum | Notification that HB1768 is now Act 815 |
|
SB100
Act 482
· 8 mentions in agenda, chapter, transcript
Matched: “…IDENTIAL TREATMENT FACILITIES; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. SB100 C. Penzo TO AUTHORIZE THE ARKANSAS MEDICAID PROGRAM TO RECO…”
|
TO AUTHORIZE THE ARKANSAS MEDICAID PROGRAM TO RECOGNIZE A PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT AS A PRIMARY CARE … | C. Penzo | Notification that SB100 is now Act 482 |
|
SB257
Act 515
· 8 mentions in chapter, transcript
Matched: “SB257 C. Penzo TO AMEND THE MEDICAID FAIRNESS ACT; TO EXTEND THE…”
|
TO AMEND THE MEDICAID FAIRNESS ACT; TO EXTEND THE APPEAL PERIOD FOR PROVIDERS IN THE … | C. Penzo | Notification that SB257 is now Act 515 |
|
HB1277
Act 706
· 6 mentions in chapter, agenda, transcript
Matched: “HB1277 Gramlich TO AMEND PAYMENTS FOR CORRECTIVE ACTION REGARDING…”
|
TO AMEND PAYMENTS FOR CORRECTIVE ACTION REGARDING PETROLEUM STORAGE TANKS. | J. Boyd | Notification that HB1277 is now Act 706 |
|
HB1142
Act 859
· 4 mentions in agenda, chapter, transcript
Matched: “…llen Rep. Wayne Long REGULAR AGENDA Number Sponsor Subtitle HB1142 A. Brown TO CREATE THE REPRODUCTIVE EMPOWERMENT AND SUPPORT…”
|
TO CREATE THE REPRODUCTIVE EMPOWERMENT AND SUPPORT THROUGH OPTIMAL RESTORATION (RESTORE) ACT. | A. Brown | Notification that HB1142 is now Act 859 |
|
SB460
Act 697
· 4 mentions in chapter, agenda, transcript
Matched: “SB460 Irvin TO MODIFY THE COMPLIANCE ADVISORY PANEL; TO REPEAL TH…”
|
TO MODIFY THE COMPLIANCE ADVISORY PANEL; TO REPEAL THE MARKETING RECYCLABLES PROGRAM OF THE COMPLIANCE … | Irvin | Notification that SB460 is now Act 697 |
|
HB1332
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1332 Pilkington TO REQUIRE THE ARKANSAS MEDICAID PROGRAM TO COVE…”
|
TO REQUIRE THE ARKANSAS MEDICAID PROGRAM TO EVALUATE CLAIMS FOR DIAGNOSES FREQUENCY OF OBESITY-RELATED CONDITIONS … | Pilkington | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1588
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1588 McAlindon TO REQUIRE APPROVAL OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY BEFOR…”
|
TO REQUIRE APPROVAL OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES SEEKS OR … | McAlindon | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1592
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1592 J. Mayberry TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS ALZHEIMER'S AND DEMENTIA…”
|
TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS ALZHEIMER'S AND DEMENTIA PUBLIC HEALTH ACT. | J. Mayberry | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1653
Act 636
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…COMPREHENSIVE INFORMATION IN NOTICES OF ADVERSE DECISIONS. HB1653 Cavenaugh TO SET STANDARDS FOR LICENSING AND REGULATION OF…”
|
TO SET STANDARDS FOR LICENSING AND REGULATION OF PSYCHIATRIC RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT FACILITIES; AND TO DECLARE … | Cavenaugh | Notification that HB1653 is now Act 636 |
|
HB1723
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…RECOGNIZE A PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT AS A PRIMARY CARE PROVIDER. HB1723 Pilkington TO AMEND INITIATED ACT 1 OF 2000, ALSO KNOWN AS…”
|
TO AMEND INITIATED ACT 1 OF 2000, ALSO KNOWN AS THE TOBACCO SETTLEMENT PROCEEDS ACT; … | Pilkington | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1776
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…ADMINISTER A GRANT PROGRAM FOR SCHOOL-BASED HEALTH CENTERS. HB1776 Lundstrum TO AMEND THE CERTIFICATE OF NEED REQUIRED TO OBTA…”
|
TO AMEND THE CERTIFICATE OF NEED REQUIRED TO OBTAIN A SOLID WASTE LANDFILL OR TRANSFER … | Lundstrum | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1791
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…estrictions designating areas as 'Members and Staff Only'. HB1791 C. Cooper TO CLARIFY THAT THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION AND…”
|
TO CLARIFY THAT THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION AND THE UNITED NATIONS DO NOT HAVE JURISDICTION … | C. Cooper | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1795
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1795 A. Brown TO CREATE THE FERTILITY CLINIC LICENSURE ACT.”
|
TO CREATE THE FERTILITY CLINIC LICENSURE ACT. | A. Brown | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1818
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1818 L. Johnson TO CREATE THE MEDICAID PROVIDER-LED CARE TRANSPA…”
|
TO CREATE THE MEDICAID PROVIDER-LED CARE TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT. | L. Johnson | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HB1854
Act 643
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…RS FOR SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE DURING THE POSTPARTUM PERIOD. HB1854 Bentley TO EXEMPT A HOME CAREGIVER FROM HOME CAREGIVER TRAI…”
|
TO EXEMPT A HOME CAREGIVER FROM HOME CAREGIVER TRAINING IF HE OR SHE PREVIOUSLY COMPLETED … | Bentley | Notification that HB1854 is now Act 643 |
|
HB1856
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1856 Ennett TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE STATE BOARD OF EMBAL…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE STATE BOARD OF EMBALMERS, FUNERAL DIRECTORS, CEMETERIES, AND BURIAL … | Ennett | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HB1858
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1858 Ladyman TO REQUIRE A PEDIATRICIAN TO SCREEN FOR TYPE 1 DIAB…”
|
TO REQUIRE A PEDIATRICIAN TO SCREEN FOR TYPE 1 DIABETES AT THE YEARLY WELL-CHILD VISIT; … | Ladyman | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
HB1869
Act 868
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…AND HEALTH BENEFIT PLANS COVER TYPE 1 DIABETES SCREENINGS. HB1869 L. Johnson TO CREATE THE MATERNAL OUTCOMES MANAGEMENT SYSTE…”
|
TO CREATE THE MATERNAL OUTCOMES MANAGEMENT SYSTEM WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH; AND TO ORGANIZE … | L. Johnson | Notification that HB1869 is now Act 868 |
|
HB1880
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1880 Hudson TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS HUMAN LIFE PROTECTION ACT AND…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS HUMAN LIFE PROTECTION ACT AND THE ARKANSAS UNBORN CHILD PROTECTION ACT … | Hudson | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1882
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1882 Pilkington TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF ENROLLABLE MEDICAID B…”
|
TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF ENROLLABLE MEDICAID BENEFICIARY POPULATION AND ALLOW THE GOVERNOR TO DESIGNATE … | Pilkington | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB264
Act 483
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB264 Irvin TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS PRIMARY CARE PAYMENT IMPROV…”
|
TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS PRIMARY CARE PAYMENT IMPROVEMENT WORKING GROUP. | Irvin | Notification that SB264 is now Act 483 |
|
HB1008
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…ECLARE AN EMERGENCY. DEFERRED BILLS Number Sponsor Subtitle HB1008 A. Collins TO REQUIRE MEDICAID COVERAGE FOR POSTPARTUM MOTH…”
|
TO REQUIRE MEDICAID COVERAGE FOR POSTPARTUM MOTHERS FOR ONE YEAR AFTER GIVING BIRTH. | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1010
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…AGE FOR POSTPARTUM MOTHERS FOR ONE YEAR AFTER GIVING BIRTH. HB1010 A. Collins TO SET THE REIMBURSEMENT RATE IN THE ARKANSAS ME…”
|
TO SET THE REIMBURSEMENT RATE IN THE ARKANSAS MEDICAID PROGRAM FOR MATERNAL HEALTH SERVICES. | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1011
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…THE ARKANSAS MEDICAID PROGRAM FOR MATERNAL HEALTH SERVICES. HB1011 A. Collins TO CREATE THE RESTORE ROE ACT; AND TO RESTORE A…”
|
TO CREATE THE RESTORE ROE ACT; AND TO RESTORE A WOMAN'S ACCESS TO ABORTION SERVICES. | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1012
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…RESTORE A WOMAN'S ACCESS TO ABORTION SERVICES. Page 2 of 3 HB1012 A. Collins TO REQUIRE THE ARKANSAS MEDICAID PROGRAM TO EXTE…”
|
TO REQUIRE THE ARKANSAS MEDICAID PROGRAM TO EXTEND ELIGIBILITY TO CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS FOR FAMILY PLANNING … | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1013
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…BILITY TO CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS FOR FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES. HB1013 Hudson TO PROTECT FERTILITY TREATMENT RIGHTS IN THIS STATE.…”
|
TO PROTECT FERTILITY TREATMENT RIGHTS IN THIS STATE. | Hudson | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1029
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…Hudson TO PROTECT FERTILITY TREATMENT RIGHTS IN THIS STATE. HB1029 D. Garner TO SET THE REIMBURSEMENT RATE IN THE ARKANSAS MED…”
|
TO SET THE REIMBURSEMENT RATE IN THE ARKANSAS MEDICAID PROGRAM FOR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES AND … | D. Garner | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1032
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…R MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES AND SERVICES RELATED TO ADDICTION. HB1032 A. Collins TO BAN CONVERSION THERAPY. HB1132 Pilkington TO…”
|
TO BAN CONVERSION THERAPY. | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1132
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…TO ADDICTION. HB1032 A. Collins TO BAN CONVERSION THERAPY. HB1132 Pilkington TO INCREASE ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE SERVICES PROVID…”
|
TO INCREASE ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE SERVICES PROVIDED BY ADVANCED PRACTICE REGISTERED NURSES; AND TO AMEND … | Pilkington | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1164
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1164 J. Mayberry TO ALLOW A PHYSICIAN OR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER TO…”
|
TO ALLOW A PHYSICIAN OR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER TO OFFER COGNITIVE ASSESSMENTS FOR CERTAIN PATIENTS; AND … | J. Mayberry | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1224
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…RIPTIVE AUTHORITY OF AN ADVANCED PRACTICE REGISTERED NURSE. HB1224 Nazarenko TO AMEND THE AUTOMATIC OCCUPATIONAL LICENSURE FOR…”
|
TO AMEND THE AUTOMATIC OCCUPATIONAL LICENSURE FOR OUT-OF-STATE LICENSURE ACT; AND TO APPLY THE AUTOMATIC … | Nazarenko | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1244
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…NSURE FOR OUT-OF-STATE LICENSURE ACT TO MASSAGE THERAPISTS. HB1244 K. Brown TO AMEND THE REQUIREMENTS TO OBTAIN A CERTIFICATE…”
|
TO AMEND THE REQUIREMENTS TO OBTAIN A CERTIFICATE OF FULL INDEPENDENT PRACTICE AUTHORITY BY A … | K. Brown | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1270
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…CERTIFIED NURSE PRACTITIONER OR CLINICAL NURSE SPECIALIST. HB1270 Pilkington TO ESTABLISH LICENSURE FOR PRESCRIBED PEDIATRIC…”
|
TO ESTABLISH A PRESCRIBED PEDIATRIC EXTENDED CARE PILOT PROGRAM THROUGH A SECTION 1115 MEDICAID DEMONSTRATION … | Pilkington | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1302
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…AM TO REIMBURSE PRESCRIBED PEDIATRIC EXTENDED CARE CENTERS. HB1302 L. Johnson TO ADD DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY TO THE UNIVER…”
|
TO ADD DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY TO THE UNIVERSAL NEWBORN SCREENING ACT. | L. Johnson | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HB1506
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “AGENDA (Revised 4/1/25 @ 7:50 AM) Removed HB1506 and HB1554 House Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and L…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES; AND TO PROHIBIT A PUBLIC EMPLOYER … | Andrews | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HB1532
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…G UTILIZATION REVIEW BOARD TO INCLUDE PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS. HB1532 L. Johnson TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS RARE DISEASE ADVISORY COU…”
|
TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS RARE DISEASE ADVISORY COUNCIL. | L. Johnson | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HB1554
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “AGENDA (Revised 4/1/25 @ 7:50 AM) Removed HB1506 and HB1554 House Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor Tuesda…”
|
TO CREATE THE ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY REPORTING ACT. | A. Brown | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
HB1566
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…hnson TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS RARE DISEASE ADVISORY COUNCIL. HB1566 McClure TO REQUIRE ADOPTION OF A STATEWIDE PRACTICAL NURSIN…”
|
TO REQUIRE ADOPTION OF A STATEWIDE PRACTICAL NURSING PROGRAM CORE CURRICULUM TO INCREASE CONSISTENCY IN … | McClure | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1718
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…LUM TO INCREASE CONSISTENCY IN PRACTICAL NURSING EDUCATION. HB1718 Gramlich TO ESTABLISH STANDARDS FOR SURGICAL SMOKE EVACUATI…”
|
TO ESTABLISH STANDARDS FOR SURGICAL SMOKE EVACUATION IN HEALTHCARE FACILITIES LICENSED IN THIS STATE. | Gramlich | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1731
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…EVACUATION IN HEALTHCARE FACILITIES LICENSED IN THIS STATE. HB1731 Vaught TO STRENGTHEN CHILD LABOR LAWS THROUGH THE REINSTATE…”
|
TO STRENGTHEN CHILD LABOR LAWS THROUGH THE REINSTATEMENT OF EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATES. | Vaught | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HB1762
Act 1009
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…LAWS THROUGH THE REINSTATEMENT OF EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATES. HB1762 Hall TO REQUIRE REVOCATION OF A PERMIT FOR THE DISPOSAL OF…”
|
TO REQUIRE REVOCATION OF A PERMIT FOR THE DISPOSAL OF INDUSTRIAL WASTE IN AN AGRICULTURAL … | Hall | Notification that HB1762 is now Act 1009 |
|
HB1781
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…OR PASTORAL APPLICATION FOR A CERTAIN NUMBER OF VIOLATIONS. HB1781 Crawford TO AUTHORIZE THE LICENSURE OF CLINICS, HEALTH CENT…”
|
TO AUTHORIZE THE LICENSURE OF CLINICS, HEALTH CENTERS, OR OTHER FACILITIES IN WHICH A PREGNANCY … | Crawford | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1816
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1816 L. Johnson TO PROHIBIT HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS AND HEALTHCARE…”
|
TO PROHIBIT HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS AND HEALTHCARE INSURERS FROM USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE DELIVERY OF … | L. Johnson | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HB1819
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1819 L. Johnson TO REQUIRE THE STATE REGISTRAR OF VITAL RECORDS…”
|
TO REQUIRE THE STATE REGISTRAR OF VITAL RECORDS TO COORDINATE WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS … | L. Johnson | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HB1888
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1888 Steele TO AMEND THE DIVISION OF WORKFORCE SERVICES LAW; AND…”
|
TO AMEND THE DIVISION OF WORKFORCE SERVICES LAW; AND TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT RECORDS … | Steele | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB168
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…PSYCHOLOGICAL OR PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST MATERIALS OR TEST DATA. SB168 Rice TO ESTABLISH A STATE EXAMINATION FOR LICENSURE OF MASS…”
|
TO ESTABLISH A STATE EXAMINATION FOR LICENSURE OF MASSAGE THERAPISTS. | Rice | Died on House Calendar at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB187
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…CENSURE OF MASSAGE THERAPISTS; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. SB187 Irvin TO AMEND THE COMPOSITION OF THE ARKANSAS MEDICAID DRU…”
|
TO AMEND THE COMPOSITION OF THE ARKANSAS MEDICAID DRUG UTILIZATION REVIEW BOARD TO INCLUDE PHYSICIAN … | Irvin | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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Members, Chair of Cesar Quorum, we'll go ahead and get started. We're going to take a couple bills out of order to be courtesy to fellow chairmen, our chairladies. Representative Kavanaugh, Chairman Kavanaugh, you're recognized to present your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and if it's with
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
0:20
your permission, I'm going to ask DHS to come up in case there's questions more technical than what I can explain.
If you would, have your guest
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
0:33
introduce herself for the record. I'm
Speaker 8
0:38
Fran Cavanaugh, State Representative, District 30. Hi, good morning. I'm Melissa Weatherton. I'm the Director
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
0:46
for Medicaid Specialty Populations at DHS. Thank you, members. Bill 1653 is a new licensing and quality of care oversight of psychiatric residential treatment facilities. It's moving who does the licensures and some quality of care oversight to the Department of DHS.
And there's a lot of specifics in it, and that's just a quick overview. And I'm just going to open it up to questions because there are quite a bit of information in the bill. Any questions? See
no questions from the committee. Is anyone in the audience speak for or
against the bill? Seeing no one, I have a motion on the bill.
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
1:37
Are you closed for your bill? I'm closed for my bill. I appreciate y'all hearing this. This is a very important bill that will help our kids in the state of Arkansas, and I would appreciate a good vote.
Representative Bentley, I have a motion to do pass. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Ayes have it. Congratulations, bill passed. Thank you, members. Representative Brown.
So, Representative Brown, this is new for you to be at the table for the
second time for the same bill. So let's don't plow any new ground, but you are recognized to present your bill, House Bill 1142,
Speaker 19
2:22
I believe. Okay, yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Speaker 21
2:24
Representative Alyssa Brown, District 41 Committee. I went back and watched our last meeting when I was in here, and I sat at the end of the table for 42 minutes. So I hoped not to do that this time. But the RESTORE Act, I won't go into all the detail I did last time,
and I appreciate all the questions and the debate that we had. The RESTORE Act aims to help women, give women the option for restorative reproductive health coverage in the state of Arkansas. a couple of quick statistics just to answer some questions. According to a recent Cleveland survey, one in five women in the United States suffer from infertility. According to the National Library of Medicine, one in nine women of reproductive age have endometriosis in the U.S. According to the
NIH, it's estimated that 10% of women of reproductive age in the United States have PCOS. Everyone knows a woman, sitting here on this committee, you know a woman who struggles with PCOS, endometriosis, or some of these underlying health conditions. All the Restore Act does is offer coverage for the restorative reproductive medicine for our doctors. This doesn't take away from IVF. This doesn't add any restrictions to them. This just gives another option for women.
Doctors already have been recommending this type of coverage, but we haven't mandated the coverage for it so with that i will answer any questions if anyone has any any questions or committee seeing none anyone in the audience
speak for against the bill seeing none i take it you're closed for your bill i'm closed on bill i appreciate you have motion do pass any discussion on a motion seeing none all those in favor say aye aye all opposed
ayes have it congratulations your bill has passed thank you committee thank you chair so i saw representative lundstrom in the room you ready go ahead what bill number in 257 okay let's start with the house bill and then we'll negotiate whether we're going do a Senate bill today or not. Okay. House Bill 1768, committee.
So we're going to let you run Senate Bill 257, but your House bill is not on the agenda yet. Okay. Thank you. What time was it filed?
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
5:42
And I can go back to the end of the
line, Chairman, if that needs to be. Go ahead
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
5:48
and present your Senate Bill 257. All right. Thank you. I do have one expert in the audience. Should you have any questions, technical questions, he can come up
and answer. Robin Lundstrom, District 18, and I am presenting Senate Bill 257 with the permission of the
chair. Okay. Senate Bill 257 is a pretty straightforward bill. Right now, Medicaid, if there is an adverse
decision determination, you have 35 days to appeal. That is simply too short. We're lucky to get our mail sometimes in Elm Springs within 5 to 10 days. So this imposes an unreasonable administrative burden, not only on the provider, but also on DHS contractors. The bill simply changes it from 35 to 65. Right now, the industry standard is 90. This still is below industry standard. This also requires DHS and its contractors to maintain and publish historic copies of all
binding requirements imposed by providers, bringing them in also, bringing the process into conformance. The biggest guts of this bill is the 35 to 65. And with that, I'll entertain any questions any questions on the bill from the committee seeing none anyone in
the audience speak for against the bill seeing none are you closed for your bill yes sir i have a motion on
the bill i have a motion do pass representative bentley all those any discussion all those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Ayes have it. Congratulations. Bill
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
7:42
passed. Thank you, colleagues. Thank you for your time. Representative Pilkington, do you have a motion for me? Yes, Chairman. I make a motion that we put House Bill 1768 on the
agenda for consideration. So committee, just for informational purposes, this would take a two-thirds vote. This is a bill that was re-referred to committee yesterday on the floor.
Somehow mistakenly got left off the agenda, so it's not like it's an unheard bill and it's already been here before, so all those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed. Unanimous vote meets the two-third threshold, so you're recognized for
a re-present House Bill 1768. Thank you, Chairman,
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
8:17
and thank you, colleagues, for your indulgence. I did withdraw this bill. Yes, sir. Yes, it does. Thank you, sir.
members we have a sort of a celebrity with us today while we're waiting on this amendment to be passed out uh would miss tamra baker stand up for us so she's with us today from the alliance of school-based health centers uh just want to make sure you guys know she's here if you need to get with her today she's in the room thank you for coming today
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
9:29
representative you can present your amendment thank you sir house bill 1768 did already pass this committee and i appreciate that unfortunately we found a couple of mistakes and i want to thank the association of counties for helping me make a couple of corrections most of them are just verbal differences the one that that i think is most important or actually two is on line 35 from
agreement and contract the host fee may be renewed for an additional instead of two years four years i think that helps improve the bill and i want to thank them for their assistance and i would appreciate
a good vote it's pretty straightforward thank you it was a
pleasure committee on the amendment i have a motion do pass representative ferguson all those in favor say aye all opposed eyes have it you're recognized to present your bill as amended folks you just
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
10:30
heard the bill that is the bill as amended and i would appreciate a good vote
thank you for your time any questions on the bill anyone in the audience speak for or against the bill what's the pleasure of the committee i got a motion do pass as amended correct Representative Rose any discussion on the moment on the motion all those in favor say aye all opposed ayes have it congratulations your bill has passed
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
11:00
thank you chairman and thank you colleagues for your indulgence
thank you Representative Gramlich do you want to run your
storage tank bill it's a house bill 1277 committee Thank you.
Representative Zack Gramlich
Unverified
11:49
of District 50, Fort Smith. Today I'm going to be presenting House Bill 1277. This is to rectify some issues we've had with underground petroleum storage tanks, essentially gas stations, convenience stores. What's happening is currently there's a $7,500 deductible that needs to be report, excuse me, $7,500 deductible for if there is a leaking storage tank that has to be reported
in 24 hours. If it's not reported, then the full onus of the issue is on the convenience store owner. And so there's a lot of individuals who are choosing not to report. And either they leave the tank leaking or they just leave the convenience store entirely and they have orphaned tanks. What this does is it allows the Pollution Control Ecology Commission to set deductibles that tank owners must pay in order to receive payments for corrective action from the Petroleum Storage Tank Trust Fund. The deductible is not to exceed $30,000 per occurrence, and this bill
is in collaboration by the Arkansas Oil Marketers Association and ADEQ. Essentially, we're just trying to ensure that we don't have ecological disasters of leaking petroleum tanks that we have to get cleaned up. And with that, I'll answer any questions. Any questions from committee? Anyone in the audience
speak for or against the bill? I take it you're closed for your bill? I'm closed and I motion do pass. That's a
proper motion. Any discussion on motion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye.
Aye. All opposed? Ayes have it. Congratulations, your bill has
Representative Zack Gramlich
Unverified
13:27
passed. Chairman, I have other bills to run. Go for it. Okay. I'll go ahead and run SB, Senate Bill 460. There was an amendment for it to make me the House sponsor. If you would, give a second. We'll get
the amendment passed out. Okay. Thank you so much.
Speaker 70
13:51
Okay. I have them all right here. I've got them all. Thank you.
Representative Zack Gramlich
Unverified
14:37
thank you so the amendment is to make me the house sponsor and with that i'll answer any questions
What's the pleasure, committee? I have a motion to do pass on the amendment. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed? No. Amendment passes. You're recognized to present your bill as amended. Thank you, chairman. Are you sure Senator Irvin's okay with that sort
Representative Zack Gramlich
Unverified
15:27
of amendment? I mean, she has been on the last two, so unless we're slipping this in without her
knowledge, I think she's acceptable. SB 460, what this does, it amends the compliance advisories panel,
small business, stationary, source, technical, and environmental compliance assistant program marketing recyclables program, CAP. The changes reduce the CAP to reflect the requirements of the Federal Clean Air Act, confirms the current panel of nine members to an advisory panel of seven members in line with the requirements of the Clean Air Act. It discontinues a grant fund for marketing and recyclables that is difficult to administer and generate interest in. Also, it redirects current funding to the CAP's support of small business compliance with federal and state environmental laws and rules.
And with that, I'll answer any questions. Any questions from
the committee? Representative Richardson, you're recognized. Hold on one second. Go ahead. You're recognized. Hey, Representative Grammley,
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
16:26
good morning. You said, I heard you say that it was removing funding and placing it somewhere else? Yeah, it says it discontinues
Representative Zack Gramlich
Unverified
16:36
a grant fund for marketing and recycles that's difficult to administer and generate interest in and is going to redirect that current funding to CAP's support of small business compliance
with federal and state environmental laws. You're going to have to repeat
Representative Zack Gramlich
Unverified
16:49
that on the mic, please, sir. I am so sorry. We're going to make sure you say word for word. Absolutely.
It is word for word. So, yeah, it discontinues a grant fund for marketing and recyclables that's difficult to administer. and generate interest in, and it redirects current funding of the compliance assistance program to support a small business
compliance with federal and state environmental laws and rules. So marketing and grant fund, that's the line item, or where is that coming from? Do you know? That's a great question. I can bring someone to the table if you'd like to answer.
If you would introduce yourself for the record and your recognized answer to Representative's question.
Speaker 86
17:25
Sure. Lauren Ballard. I am chief of staff with the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment. So I'll try and answer your question. I might give a little history, might be helpful to kind of understand what we're doing. So previously we had two boards. We had a marketing recyclables board that gave out some grants and we had this compliance advisory panel that's required by federal law under Title V. A couple of years ago we tried to combine those. We couldn't make those work really well on their own so we tried combining them. That has proven to be unsuccessful. What we
ended up doing is taking that board for marketing recyclables and expanding the CAP board from seven to nine what this bill is going to do is take off those two members put it back into compliance just what the federal law requires so the currently there is a there's a small amount of money that's coming in I think the appropriation line is about twenty eight thousand dollars a
Speaker 85
18:14
year that goes is how much we can spend in grants that is put into a fund we take proposals on marketing and recyclables and we will grant those funds if we have projects that come up
that that board decides to grant those monies for. So what this would do is just redirect that back to the compliance advisory panel. And so it kind of does similar purpose, yeah.
You good? Any other questions from committee? Representative Henley, you recognize.
Representative Dolly Henley
Unverified
18:51
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Ma'am, will this
put any of the small businesses out of business that's been doing this?
And can you tell me what the recyclables are? Actually, I think
Speaker 86
19:03
it's going to help small business. So the compliance advisory panel is supposed to exist to help small businesses comply with really complicated federal regulations. So the idea is they actually have membership. small businesses have membership on that compliance advisory panel and sort of can have input on the things they want to get direction on. So this is going to put that money, that funding, that $28,000 back towards that purpose. Those grants, I think they've been used for a wide variety of things.
I'll tell you in the last few years, I don't think a lot of grants have been given out because we can't generate a lot of interest in it. We actually have difficulty getting a quorum on that nine person panel to show up to meetings and they're quarterly, not a lot of interest. So we're trying to try something new, pare down what we're doing just to fit within federal law and
Chair
Unverified
19:54
help those small businesses. Representative Henley, you're done. Representative Richardson, you're recognized. Thank
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
19:58
you. So you just mentioned, you said those funds were not being accessed. They were available.
People weren't coming to get them or asking for them. Did I
Speaker 86
20:08
hear you correctly? That's correct. I mean, we did give out some grants, but we had difficulty finding interest in those grants, yes.
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
20:13
Okay, I'll just get you off to this and ask more information. Perfect, yeah. Thank you, Mr.
Chair. Any further questions from committee? Seeing none, anyone in the audience
speak for or against the bill? Seeing none, Representative, are
Speaker 65
20:29
you closed for your bill? I'm closed for my bill, and I motion to pass as amended.
That's a proper motion. Any discussion on motion? Seeing none, all those in favor say
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
20:43
aye. All opposed? There was just no excitement
for you. I'm going to roll it past.
Speaker 65
20:52
Congratulations. Thank you very much. I've got one more. I'd go
Representative Zack Gramlich
Unverified
20:55
for it. All right. With the same amount of excitement as the previous, I'm going to run SB100.
SB 100 would allow physician assistants to serve as primary care providers under Medicaid. APRNs already have this. There's no known outside opposition. I have a letter with over 50 Arkansas physicians supporting it. PAs will work alongside a supervising physician and SB 100 reaffirms this critical relationship by allowing PAs to be formally recognized as PCPs. This streamlines care and eliminates unnecessary delays that can arise when patients must wait for a physician's signature on time
sensitive orders and referrals. Billing does not go to the PAs. It goes to the practice. The SB100 does not change a PA scope of practice, and all PAs will still practice under the supervision of a physician. All patients under the care of a PA have a physician-led care team. And with that, I'll answer any questions. Representative Richardson, you recognize. So
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
22:14
Representative Gramley, we're giving physician assistants more room to grow, I'm guessing.
Representative Zack Gramlich
Unverified
22:19
From my understanding, yes, but from my understanding when I
was explaining this, this does more with billing than it does actually anything else. They still work under a physician. They still work under a physician's care and supervision. I could bring someone to the table to
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
22:37
answer some more questions more specifically than that. But it gives them the ability to file for reimbursement as an MD would, correct?
Representative Zack Gramlich
Unverified
22:47
Well, sure, but like I said, that money goes to the practice.
It does not go to the PA. So it's more of a billing issue than anything else. can
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
22:59
we bring witness i may have a more specific question for the pa you
Speaker 102
23:18
want okay thank you so oh i'm sorry aaron woodall the president of arkansas academy of pas
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
23:24
so the physician reimbursement So actually
Speaker 102
23:32
most billing is completed like in an office setting is completed through E&M services and this bill doesn't actually affect that. So in 2023 Act 300 was signed and that allowed PAs to be rendering and billing providers through Medicaid. So this bill is really more of a workflow and administrative issue. And so the example that we use a lot, when patients with Medicaid have to have an assigned
PCP, and that PCP has to sign off on orders and referrals and things like that. And so if I'm seeing a patient, I still have my supervising physician who is overseeing that care, is leading the team, and is still giving oversight of all the patients that I see. But if I'm seeing a patient and they need an urgent referral, the PCP has to sign off. If my SP is out for the day, we have to wait for them to be back to sign off on that referral but the patient needs care now and so again it's really just that administrative workflow like he said we have a letter with
actually over 70 physician signatures now we we know that physicians support this we don't have any opposition
Speaker 105
24:36
from the medical society as well we've worked with them on
an amendment is Janet Mann still in the room with DHS can you
come to the table Ms. Putnam can you tell me what the reimbursement rate is percentage-wise to the physician today for
Speaker 107
25:00
PAs for physician's assistance when the when we're able to put that rule he's talking about into
Speaker 109
25:04
place CMS had held it so we're still working with them on that it will be 80 percent of a
physician's rate the same as an APRN so if I'm reading this bill correctly if you look at page to line one it increases that to a hundred percent making them a pa uh pcp am i reading that correctly so it's a increase of 20 to their reimbursement so regardless of where that goes the clinic or to
Speaker 109
25:30
them or whoever so when we read this we did not think it was an increase that is for the lab costs and additional tests which are paid at a different rate the actual physician
services um are the actual services in paragraph b1 are reimbursed at the current rate which would be that 80 percent is how we read are you reimbursing
the labs and the x-rays today at 100 or at 80 i believe my utilization manager said
Speaker 109
25:53
100 but i will definitely go text her and confirm that thank you any further
questions from committee seeing none uh representative gramlet is
there any other witnesses that you have
not to my knowledge anyone else in the room speak for against the bill are you
Speaker 65
26:20
close for your bill i'm close for my bill and i motion bill do pass that's a proper motion all those in favor say aye aye all those opposed no
no your bill passes. Congratulations. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, committee. And thank you for
Speaker 65
26:34
a little bit more energy on that last bill. I don't
Speaker 48
26:39
know how you did it. Representative Pilketon, do you have a couple bills?
Yes, I do. If you would, tell us which ones you're going to run
before you start. Members, this bill has a physical impact, so if you would give a few minutes to get that passed out.
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
28:01
Can I get a copy of that fiscal impact? I want to make sure it's also the most current one. Thank you.
Representative Pilkington, you're recognized to present your bill. This bill does not have an amendment, correct? Correct. This is not the one with
the amendment. Okay. Yes, sir. You're recognized. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Committee. Today I
present to you House Bill 1332, which is an act
to require the Arkansas Medicaid program to cover GPL1s. It's a pretty simple, short bill, no later than the date of issuance of a final federal rule resulting from the proposed federal rule published as Medicare and Medicaid programs, contract year 2026, policy and technical changes to the Medicaid Advantage Program, Medicaid Prescription Drug Benefit Program, Medicaid cause broken, yada yada. Basically, if we're recognizing that from a federal rule that you can use GPL-1s for weight loss, then we would expect the state to follow suit and issue a
similar rule for GPL-1s for weight loss. We took out anything relating to EBD, which is why on this EBD fiscal impact, it says no impact. But essentially, you know, states like Mississippi have found that this is a way to lower their overall costs long term with how much they spend on Medicaid with related to weight loss issues. And so obviously, as Ozympic and other weight loss medications that are used to treat diabetes, now using them to treat weight loss is a way to spend a little money on the front end
but get a lot of savings on the back end. And so essentially, that's what the bill is. I don't know if there's anyone here to speak for it or not, but that's it. Short and sweet. Representative Rose, you're recognized. Representative Pilkington, you
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
29:59
said something in the beginning, and I missed the first thing you said. It almost sounded like if the federal government did something, then we can do something.
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
30:07
Could you reiterate that, just so I had that? Yes. Basically, when the federal rule comes down that you can use these to treat weight. When it's approved? Yes, from the federal government. So we kick in
Speaker 129
30:19
after they kick in? Yes, sir. Okay, that's what I want. Thank you. That's it. Any other questions? Representative Bentley, you have one? You're working
on it. Can we have DHS come to the table? Absolutely. I love it when DHS comes to the table.
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
30:38
And they love it when I'm at the table.
Speaker 136
30:44
Morning again, Elizabeth Pittman, DHS. Thank you for
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
30:47
being here this morning. I mean, we're all acutely aware of Medicaid costs at this point. I'm very hesitant to add any more costs to Medicaid that are not covered, especially with the uncertainty going on on the federal level right now. So is this anything that we have set aside money for? Do you have any concerns on this? I'd really appreciate
your thoughts on this at this point. So you have our fiscal impact statement.
Speaker 109
31:10
We don't have any set aside money for any increases outside of the maternal health bill. So, no, there's no set aside funds. That fiscal does not include rebates that we would get back, but it is fairly significant. We do not cover weight loss drugs as a class of medication at this time, so that would be an expansion of coverage for us. Okay, thank you, Chairman.
Thank you. Representative Pilkington, and I may have missed this in your statement. If I did, I'm sorry. There's a lot going on up here.
Very good. Looking at the EB, I mean, I guess it's the Arkansas Department of Human Services impact. They're claiming a state share would be $7.6 to $19.1 million. Do you think that's accurate, or what do
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
32:00
you think the impact should be? I mean, I don't see their internal numbers for how they get that, but when I look at how much money we spend on obesity-related illnesses and chronic illnesses like heart conditions and things like that,
you can make the case, like the state of Mississippi did, that ultimately you create long-term savings because I can't remember what the projection was in Mississippi when they went and bought a stockpile of GPL-1s to deal with their Medicaid issue, how much they had saved. I don't have that number in front of me, but I know that it was significant, and that's why they went ahead and made that move. So they could be. Those numbers could be accurate. I told you there's a lot
going on up here. What did what what happened in the
state of Mississippi with the determination? Did they actually save any money or did it cost them more money when they enacted this? Well it's
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
32:53
currently still going on so I don't know what their latest number was. Their rejection was they would save money but obviously not enough
time has gone past for them to adequately figure out whether or not they've saved or not but I don't to... I was going to call you Representative Pittman. That's a promotion. No,
Speaker 109
33:08
I am not familiar with the work in Mississippi. Happy to look into that. I will tell you the numbers we provided are based solely on what we would have to expend on the drug. They don't account for any return on
investment. And I understand that. But it is a large
Representative Dolly Henley
Unverified
33:31
number. It is a large number, yes. They are expensive. Representative Henley, you recognize her. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know a lot
of individuals who have used this drug and been very, very successful. My concern is in the Medicaid program, and I'm just unfamiliar. So when the pot of money runs low, who's going to decide who we're going to take care of, who's going to get treatment, and who won't get treatment?
Speaker 109
33:52
a fair question? It is a fair question, and one we ask ourselves a lot. I think that would be all of us. You guys, the Medicaid program, the federal government, I think we would all have to make those decisions together. I don't think it's something we could make in a vacuum, but it's definitely a fair question and something that we would have to
Representative Dolly Henley
Unverified
34:19
consider if the funds run low. Follow-up. Will there be a rule with the patients taking the drug,
would there be a rule that they will have to have done other programs to get weight off their bodies? Would there be a procedure that some accountability before we just jump into this and strap the Medicaid program? Sorry, I'm
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
34:45
receiving the text. Could you restate the question, Representative? My question
Representative Dolly Henley
Unverified
34:51
is, would there be a procedure for the patients to have to go through some process of trying to lose weight
before we just jump right into the Medicaid program, paying for this expensive
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
35:06
shot? Sure. You know, I would assume there would be. I mean, we oftentimes, before a doctor will prescribe certain medications like this, we'll have you, you know, try weight loss through dieting, exercise, other means. Obviously, when we talk about obesity, we talk about very large individuals who have hundreds of pounds of weight on them.
The stress that that puts on their heart, on their lungs, on their other organs is pretty great. And when you're at a certain advanced age, too, it's also harder to get that weight off. So there are going to be some probably examples where diet and exercise, while they may try it after six months, are going to say, we probably need to get you on this because you're not losing the weight fast enough. But that's something we can easily do, and like I said, this is, once the federal rule comes down, we can always come back in and make those adjustments to how we want to do it, which I would expect we would.
I mean, the last thing we want to do is just give a shot. Obviously, healthy lifestyles are important in maintaining your health, and so, and I I think right now already when we're using these, especially, too, before you become diabetic, we're oftentimes, you know, doctors are advocating for exercise and things like that and diet because we don't want you to become diabetic because now we are going to have to pay for drugs because we're already paying for these drugs for diabetes treatments. And so, yeah,
that's the better way to do it. And the hope is with this as well, we would have them do that first before just immediately
going and just taking the shot. So I've got someone here who can speak to the Mississippi Medicaid study, by the way, if you would allow me the
link. I will. Committee, are we done with questions? We are done with questions, so if you want to bring that person up, you're welcome to.
Speaker 161
36:59
I didn't know it was that person. Austin Grinder with Mullenix and Associates. I brought the study to Representative Pilkington's attention,
so I just kind of wanted to briefly talk about what it says. It was a study done by the University of Mississippi in conjunction with Mississippi Medicaid, and it found that after the first year, drugging costs did increase by $61 per beneficiary that was studied in the program, but medical costs decreased by $59 per beneficiary. So only a slight increase, and that's only after one year. You would think that as time goes on, you know, and that weight stays off, that the medical costs would continue to decrease
and the pharmacy costs are going to stay consistent if not go down as, you know, generics are developed and other options become available. Any
questions for the witness? Representative Perry, I
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
37:53
saw you fidgeting. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. How long, Austin, how long has the study Mississippi been going on? So
Speaker 162
38:00
that program started, I think, a year and a half, two years ago. and they
Speaker 161
38:06
just released a study earlier this year.
Okay. All right. Thank you. Any other questions from committee? See you none. Are there anyone else in the audience speak for or against
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
38:26
the bill? Representative Pilketon, are you closed for your bill? Yes, I am.
Great discussion, committee. Appreciate everyone's comments. I just want to reiterate, on line 27, you see no later than the date of the issuance of a final federal rule resulting from the proposed federal rule.
So just so we know, this isn't Arkansas going on our own. We're also expecting there to be a federal rule that we're simply following behind that would allow us to use these medications. So it's not just instantaneous we're going to start spending this money on this. But I do think as we get more innovative, I mean, I could understand that maybe this doesn't get all the way through. But I think we're going to see in the future we're going to be spending money on GPL-1s to manage our weight issues here and other states that have quite large weight issues.
So with that, I make a motion. Do pass. That's a proper motion. Any discussion on the
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
39:30
motion? Representative Bentley, you recognize. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you, Representative Pilkin. I appreciate you always looking outside the box to move things forward. I'm just very hesitant at this point with the insecurity things that are going on in D.C., and I really appreciate you bringing this to us at this point. I'm just hesitant to
do anything that would increase our costs on Medicaid, but thank you so much. I'll be a no, but I'll be happy to look at it in between times.
Any further discussion from the committee? Seeing none, all those in favor say
Speaker 174
40:15
aye. Aye. All opposed? No. Ms. Davis, if you would call the roll. Representative Henley, yes.
Representative Barnes, yes. Representative Gramlich? Representative Rose? Representative Rose? Yes. Representative Moore? Representative Schultz? Representative Schultz, no.
Representative Long? No. Representative Long? No. Representative Ennett? Yes. Representative Representative Richardson? Yes. Representative Richardson, yes. Representative Cooper? Representative Cooper? Representative Johnson? Representative Johnson? Representative Perry?
Yes. Representative Perry, yes. Representative Pilkington? Yes. Representative Pilkington, - Yes. Representative Allen. Representative Allen. Representative Ferguson. Representative Ferguson. Representative Bentley. - No. - Representative Bentley, no.
Representative Ladyman. Representative Ladyman. Representative Magee? Representative
Speaker 176
42:10
Magee? Representative Wardridge? Representative Wardridge? No.
For the record, I voted yes. The bill got eight votes, therefore it did not meet the threshold of 11, so it failed. You got another bill? Yes, sir. I've got
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
42:39
House Bill 1882, and there's an amendment on that as well. All right. If you'll wait just a few minutes, we'll pass the
amendment out, and then you present the amendment. Sure. House Bill 1882. Yes, sir. Do you want to explain the amendment?
Do you want to come up and explain the amendment?
Unknown speaker
42:59
You want to come explain me a minute?
Ms. Davis, can I have a copy as well?
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
43:59
thank you representative you're recognized to
present your amendment thank you this is an amendment uh we we drafted in partnership with dhs and so i just wanted to have dhs come and explain the amendment
Speaker 109
44:21
that they worked with me on to good morning elizabeth pitman again with DHS. This amendment does two things and one it clarifies that if so she so
chooses the governor may add a population that's not otherwise excluded from the past. The purpose of this is there is a different bill and where you guys have asked us to do a traumatic brain injury waiver and we believe that those services are very similar to those provided in the past and that would be the best place to serve that population. So we've made sure this language allows for us to put that population in there. Additionally, there was some language in the original bill around 340B rebate drugs, or 340B drugs. Currently, the PASS is already allowing 340B providers to serve patients in the PASS and
get the 340B rebate, and then we as the state just do not collect a rebate on those drugs, and they pay the 340B price. So this just takes that language out and allows that practice to continue. That's the
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
45:14
amendment, and as a member of the committee, I make a motion to adopt the
amendment. It's a proper motion. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed. Ayes have it. You can now present your bill as amended. Thank
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
45:28
you. Thank you committee. In many ways Ms. Pittman kind of explained what this bill does. Essentially we're allowing the governor
with approval from ALC to move certain populations Medicaid populations into the PASS program. Representative Bentley said it very well when she said you know there's a lot of uncertainty going on in DC right now and I think that we as a state sometimes need to be able to move fast in order to potentially create savings or to utilize the passes in a better way and so if that were to occur it gives the governor latitude to make that move but at the same time it also gives the legislature the ability to approve that or deny that if they think that that is not
the right move for our constituents. And so that's essentially what the bill does, and that's it, short and sweet. Appreciate DHS's help on this. Any questions from the members?
Representative Bentley, you recognize me. This is for DHS
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
46:24
since she's there. So can you, do you believe this will bring some savings to the state? What is the impetus
behind this that you guys want to see? So this
Speaker 109
46:36
was not our bill. We didn't start this. So we do think pass can result in savings yes ma'am and we definitely don't believe it will increase
cost and because of the way the pass program works we do think it allows for um better management of utilization and so we have seen some savings off the the growth of medicaid with the pass to date and we anticipate that to continue to slow our overall growth and help reduce our spent thank you thank you chairman
I do have a couple questions as well. So when we're talking about these populations, give us some examples. I know your amendment gave us an example of one population, but what's the target here? Who is this aimed towards?
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
47:16
Well, I just think any populations in which we're trying to create savings and better utilization of care. You know, I've actually been an advocate for moving maternal health into this as well. And then, of course, we've also talked about the CHIP population as well. Those are kind of two areas where we think better utilization can be ripe for savings, but at the same time, you know, provide those quality. You know, my understanding, too, is there were certain, when we originally ran the PASS legislation back in 2017, there were certain populations that were exempt from going into the PASSes. What are some of those? Long-term care is one to think of, and they are still exempt even with this bill.
And I guess my question would be, though, where are the current folks that were thinking we would move into this population for a savings? where are they currently covered? What's their insurance now? Medicaid. So we're thinking about moving straight from Medicaid into this, and we think that's the cost savings that we're talking about? Correct. This
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
48:08
would not affect anyone with private insurance. Okay, so
this would be a step towards, though, making, it would kind of be a step towards full managed care in a sense, right, because we're moving those populations into what the managed care system is for the state of
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
48:21
Arkansas? Well, I would say it's actually a countermeasure against going full-blown managed care because instead
you have provider-led organized care which you know that may seem like semantics but the reality is we actually have the providers in control making these determinations uh you know on on care and i think we've seen success with the tier one and tier two populations it has reduced has produced the savings we thought it was going to um and so and once again i would much rather if we were to move population to great savings we're putting them in organizations that are based here in arkansas that are arkansas provider-led companies
as opposed to some third-party managed care company out of Dallas or, you know, San Francisco or something like that. I mean, I would hate to see us go to a full-blown managed care model. Oh, I agree with you. And so this is kind of a counterweight. We need to produce savings, but we want to make sure that we have a better utilization of care. Now, granted, this doesn't mean that the governor is going to do it tomorrow. We can, as ALC, say no to every single request there is. I know there's current legislation dealing with our Medicaid expansion population by Representative Lee Johnson and Missy Irvin, which I fully support
and think it's a good policy to create the savings that we want to do. So I think that's good. I just think there's also maybe some other areas that as time goes on and we need to produce more savings, and especially when the feds come down and need us to do certain things, we just have this in our back pocket, and we're not having to be called in for
a special session or trying to wait until we have, you know, two more years until we're back into a regular session. So that's kind of why
we did this now. Okay. One more follow-up, Mr. Chair. For DHS, is there populations that you're currently managing that you feel like
that you're not going to be able to provide the level of care or management needed that would need to be
Speaker 109
50:03
shifted to the pass? I am not aware of any. Well, other than the traumatic brain injury that I testified about, which is not a currently covered population. Janet's here. Oh,
Speaker 214
50:23
goody. It's not working. Okay, there you go. Good morning, Janet Mann, DHS. To answer your question, Representative Wardlaw,
we don't have any identified populations at this time to go into the past. I do believe the new population that has a bill with traumatic brain injury is a good population that should be considered for the past for home and community-based services and for a holistic approach, but at this time, we have no other identified populations. As Ms. Pittman stated, this did not start as our bill. We just offered amendments to make it workable.
Right, so I guess my question to you would be then, is there a need for this bill? Because we've already introduced a bill to move that
Speaker 219
51:08
other population into the past, correct? There is no bill. No, sir. There's a bill to cover traumatic brain injury as a waiver, and I believe we
Speaker 214
51:17
would like to have the option to either cover that for the most cost-effective means. It will be a very small population, but that population could also have several different needs at different times of the year, and having that extra care coordination and identified throughout the community would be beneficial in the past,
is our initial thinking when we saw the bill and saw
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
51:48
that it was passed. Okay. Thank you, ma'am. Representative Bentley, you're recognized. Thank you, Chairman. So another quick question for DHS.
Do you think this will this allow us to move maternal
Speaker 224
51:59
patients over to the past if we think that's a good step? I think it
Speaker 214
52:04
will allow the discussion. At this current time, the agency has been focused on presumptive eligibility and raising the OB rates
and getting those effective for July 1. So
Speaker 221
52:12
not that we've done any analysis in the middle of session
Representative Denise Jones Ennett
Unverified
52:21
to consider that. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. Representative Annette, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Forgive me for not knowing these things. I'm new to this committee. So under Section B, intellectual or developmental disabilities, what specifically is this doing for this community or population?
And forgive me, I don't know how to ask this
question. I don't. Section B? Under your amendment. So I think that is language
Speaker 207
52:49
already in the PAS Act. Oh, okay. Yes. Yeah, that's not new. Yeah, the intellectual and developmental disability population
Speaker 109
52:57
is already in pass. Okay, that's what I thought. Yes, ma'am. Okay, thank you. Representative Ladyman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Well,
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
53:06
I've got a lot of questions about this, and I apologize. I came in late.
I haven't really looked at the bill that much, but I'm concerned when we talk about adding things to the pass to be covered because there's not enough money there to cover what we need to do now. You know, I've got bills out there that I can't get funding for for the disabled. And if we move more populations into this, unless we move more money into it, and I don't see that in the bill, I definitely can't be for that. Because if we move additional populations into the passes that are there to cover the disabled, then it's going to take away from the disabled.
And I can't vote for something like that unless it's funded. So is
it funded in this bill? Is there extra money coming in? Well, no. I mean, the way
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
53:53
it works is the money follows the patient. So if we were to move a population, the money that is going towards that population would move as well. Just like when we moved Tier 2 and Tier 3 in the passes, I mean, we took that Medicaid money and it went into the passes to follow them. So it would be if you moved a population, you'd be taking the existing money you're already paying into the program with them. So it's not like you're adding people but not adding the money that was paying for their services originally. Does that make sense?
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
54:16
So you are adding money. That's just yes or
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
54:20
no. Well, it's not an add money because you're just moving money. You're moving money into this bucket. The
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
54:26
money follows the patient. What about facilities and maintaining facilities and having opportunities for these different groups? Are they going to be going into some of the facilities that we have for the disabled? Because they're already in trouble and we can't rebuild them. We can't get money to upgrade them. We're going to
Speaker 219
54:44
switch out some of the subject matter experts.
I believe the HDCs are excluded from the past.
Speaker 8
54:52
Melissa Weatherton, Medicaid Specialty Populations, Representative Bladyman. So Representative Bentley has passed a bill asking DHS to set up a new program for people with traumatic brain injuries, a new waiver program. So most of our populations in the specialty side of the house, we put them in waivers, right? So we have waivers for the elderly, we have waivers for the aging, we have wagers for people with intellectual disability,
and we have a waiver-like program for mental health. So the goal would be to set up a new waiver for people with traumatic brain injuries and we would house that under the PASS program. But that does not mean that based on their diagnosis that they would qualify for the same services that our clients with IDD or behavioral health qualify for. So they wouldn't be able to go to the human development centers or an intermediate care facility.
It wouldn't be appropriate for us to send them inpatient right at a behavioral health facility. We need to set up a brand-new package for them to serve their diagnosis. Okay. Well, thank you for that.
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
56:05
And if it's a small group and it's
a designated group, I'm okay with that, but this bill looks pretty open-ended. And it says that council can approve it, but it's a very open-ended bill in my opinion. It doesn't just talk about one group. No, sorry,
Speaker 214
56:22
it does not talk about one group.
What it does allow is if a population is identified, that it could be considered with governor's office approval and then come before ALC to be considered to be moved into the pass. There's also still a list of populations that are not qualified to enter the pass, and those still remain. So those are not being removed with this bill or amendment. Okay. All right. Thank you.
Any additional questions by the committee? Seeing none, do we have anyone who has signed up to speak for or against the
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
57:10
bill? Seeing none, you're recognized to close for your bill. Thank you, committee. I appreciate the discussion. I just want to reiterate, you know, when we ran the PASS legislation in the 2017 session, it was almost a decade ago, you know, there were certain populations we exempted. We're still maintaining that we're going to keep those populations exempted.
That was part of the deal we made back then. We're still honoring that. We just, like I said, there's some smaller groups that we may want to be able to move into the PASS so that we can get better efficiencies, and that's simply it. Like I said, ALC still gets to, you know, approve if the governor makes this move or not, so it still gives us a lot of control on this and have a lively discussion when it happens so there's nothing going to be arbitrary about it. Pretty simple, and so I think, you know, obviously, like I said, we're just worried about the future and, you know, what things are coming down for the federal government. We just want to have more tools in the toolbox, and to me this is a tool in the toolbox,
but it also protects the original agreements we made back in the 2017 session about exempting certain populations. So we're honoring our commitments there. We're giving ourselves the flexibility of some of these new groups like the Traumatic Brain Injury Waiver being able to go in here so that we can treat them and utilize some of the specialties that the passes have to better take care of these patients and save the state a little bit of money. So with that, I make a motion to do pass. As amended, correct? As amended, yes, Chairman. All
Speaker 181
58:24
right, so I've got a few members for discussion.
Recognize my vice chair first, Representative Woolbridge. Thank you, Mr. Chairman,
and thank you, Representative Pilkington, for bringing this bill. I think that definitely some conversations along
this need to happen and maybe through an interim study or some process where we look at populations narrowly focused that we would want to move into the PASS system. To me, I agree with Representative Ladyman. I think it's too broad, it's too open-ended, and for that reason, I'm voting no, but open to discussion in the future. But thank you for bringing it. Representative Ladyman, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
59:01
Well, Representative Woolridge, I appreciate your comments there. But I don't want to change someone's vote here by my questions. I just had a lot of questions about that, and we have to have guardrails that we don't dilute the population that we're trying to serve with the passes, and I want to make sure that we do that. You do have some guardrails. It does have to go to council. I'm still a little nervous about this, but I think I will be voting for your bill.
Any other discussion from the committee? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye.
All those opposed? No. You guys keep hitting this 50% mark. Ms. Davis, if
Speaker 174
59:55
you would call the roll. Representative Henley? No. Representative Henley? No. Representative Barnes?
Yes. Representative Barnes? Yes. Representative Gramley? Representative Gramly Representative Rose Representative Rose, yes Representative Moore Representative Moore Representative Schultz Representative Schultz, no Representative Long Representative Long, no
Representative Ennett, yes. Representative Richardson, no. Representative Cooper, Representative Johnson, yes. Representative Perry, no. Representative Perry: No. Representative Pilkington? Yes. Representative Pilkington, yes.
Representative Allen? Representative Allen? Representative Ferguson? Representative Ferguson? Representative Bentley? Yes. Representative Bentley? Yes. Representative Ladyman, yes. Representative McGee, no.
with eight votes yes it seems to be a trend you didn't meet the 11 needed so the bill has failed have
Speaker 241
1:02:19
you uh do you have there is one more on the agenda it's
on the first page i think that's the minority
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:02:28
health commission one is that it yes we can move that to deferred They have agreed to work with me in the interim to create that program,
so we're not going to need legislation on that. Thank you. Representative Johnson, do
try today? Okay, what's the number? 18 what? 1869, okay. All right, if you would, just pause a
second. We'll get the amendment passed out. Oh, you're good.
Representative, you are recognized to present your amendment. Members, this
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
1:04:20
amendment corrects some language in the legislative intent section of the bill. This was brought to my attention by the Department of Health, and we're just changing up that language. I appreciate a good vote on the amendment. Any questions on the amendment?
I got a motion do pass on the amendment. All those in favor say aye. All opposed? The ayes have it. So you are now recognized to present House Bill 1869 as amended. Thank you,
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
1:04:46
Mr. Chairman and the committee. Committee, there was a lot of good work that came out of the working groups the governor put together with this executive order around maternal outcomes, some of which was adopted into the Healthy Moms Act that we've signed into law, which is a great bill. Some of the other... be good projects, but maybe didn't quite have the funding identified at the time.
This is one of those items that came out of those discussions. This bill is contingent upon funding, so right now this would be setting up the potential for a program if funding became available later, but wouldn't mandate any program on Department of Health. What we're trying to do with this program is mimic what we've done in trauma and in stroke, which is to create a statewide system of care around maternal health. So if you're familiar with the trauma system, one of the things we did in the trauma system is we created, we saw
back in 2000, in the 2000 aughts, early 2010s, we were having a pretty significant problem.
That's working. There we go. So we were having a problem very similar to what we're having in internal health right
now. We're having a problem with trauma mortality that's preventable. There are states all around the country at the time that had a statewide trauma system. We did not have one in Arkansas, and so we developed one. The basis for that system is a designation system for hospitals. So what we did is we categorized hospitals based on their capabilities as to what kind of traumas they might take care of. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has for over a decade now called for states to create a designation system for their maternal delivery hospitals.
So this bill, if funding became available, would mandate that the Department of Health work with stakeholders to create a designation system for our delivery hospitals based on their capabilities. Additionally, it would provide a grant process like we do with trauma to these delivery hospitals, providing the most grant money to the least volume hospitals who need the money the most. It sets up the criteria for applying for those grants. It also sets up the eligibility for those grants requiring hospitals to participate in peer review, in education of the community,
making sure that their providers at the hospital do appropriate CME or continuing medical education around maternal health. It also sets up a call center like we do with TraumaCom to coordinate transfers around the state so that if you're in a small emergency department somewhere and you have a woman who is ill and needs to be delivered, you can have a one-stop shop call to try to figure out where that woman needs to go to get the best care she needs, the most appropriate care. Sometimes that might be a high-level center. Sometimes it might be just a few miles down the road to a hospital that does basic deliveries.
Additionally, it would create a follow-up call center for women postpartum. We're doing this as a pilot right now at UAMS. This would provide that function within the department to continue to work that program. That program's been very successful, reaching out to mothers post-delivery and trying to make sure they don't have any specific needs that aren't being addressed. So that call center right now is trying to reach 100% of the deliveries in Arkansas, so that's about 36,000 in Arkansas.
Again, it's a good program. We just don't have the funding identified right now to support it, but I'd like to have it in place in case we come to a crisis in the next couple of years before we're back in session. And if we needed to have funding to some of these rural hospitals that are still doing deliveries, this would create the guidelines for that. And
I'd be happy to answer any questions on the bill itself. Where in the
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
1:08:37
bill does it identify the funding or lack of funding? It's page 3 at the bottom, at the top, so page 3, lines 3 through 5, the activities of the Maternal Outcomes Management System.
By the way, I like that acronym. Under this section, and the additional requirements under this subchapter are contingent upon the availability and appropriation of
funding. Okay, and you're not running
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
1:09:02
an appropriation of funding? I am not. Okay. They would have to find that funding within their own budget. And, again, you know,
I may at some point, you know, I'm past the filing deadline for appropriation. We could amend, I guess, the Department of Health budget to make an appropriation, but there's no funding identified for this.
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
1:09:20
Representative Ladyman, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Representative Johnson, just a question. I know you're not asking for funding. Maybe you haven't looked at that, but is there an estimate on the cost of
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
1:09:32
this? So it's a grant funding mechanism, right? So you could put any amount of money
into it. Let's say you put a million dollars into it. Then you would have a structure set up where your lower tier hospitals that do less deliveries could qualify for a portion of that grant money. And it would be up to the department to figure out how to allot that, right? When I first started looking at this process, I sort of worked backwards from, hey, what do you need for rural hospitals that are delivering babies to stay viable?
You know, it's a numbers game for these small hospitals. If they're doing less than 300 deliveries a year, it's very hard for them to stay financially viable because they can't afford, based on the revenue, to pay for the providers. And so I started by looking at, we have 34 delivery hospitals right now in Arkansas. There's about 10 of those that would meet that less than 300. The indications I got was around $1 million is what they needed to be whole. So working backwards from the numbers, you know, the number I
originally came to was around $20 million. And that's a big number and a lot to ask for something that's not a proven, effective system.
So I don't think there's a specific number that – I think there's a number out there that would make our delivery hospitals whole. But I don't know that that all needs to come from this. One of the things we did with the Healthy Moms is we increased reimbursement in Medicaid, which is going to go a long ways, I think, to helping these rural hospitals and maybe reduce the delta between what they can make and what they need to stay viable. But I still think there's going to, for some of these small hospitals who are on the
brink of losing their delivery services, I still think they're going to need to be subsidized, even with the increased Medicaid reimbursement.
So I think at some point you're going
to see some of our small rural hospitals coming to the state asking for money. Or they're going to say, look, we're going to have to close our delivery division again. And so this would give us a target to try to put some guardrails on that
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
1:11:22
money. So I think I heard you say that,
you know, we could do small amounts. So have you all had this discussion about, you know, during the interim money could be moved one line to another line, that sort of
thing, to cover emergencies in a small hospital like you're talking about?
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
1:11:38
So that is a possibility? I believe it is, right? And that's the goal is trying to set up this framework is, you know, if
a small hospital comes to us in the interim and says, hey, look, we're about to have to close all of our OB services, Instead of just handing them a check, perhaps we could set up this framework and say, look, we'll give you the money if you do A, B, C, and D to try to help reduce mortality. That's how we leverage performance with the trauma system, and I think we could do the same thing with this system. Thank you. Representative Bentley, you're recognized.
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
1:12:11
Thank you, Chairman. So thank you, Representative Johnson. I'll let you do them for maternal health and health across the state. I appreciate it. So do you see a cost for setting up the framework here? I'm just trying to
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
1:12:22
read through it. So I did talk, when I was working on this bill, I did talk to the Department of Health and ask for sort of some estimates for just setting up, like what would be the setup cost to get the designation system made, right? And what would be the setup cost to get the call center set up? And then what would be the ongoing operational cost? I haven't looked behind me.
I feel certain that someone from the Department of Health is in the room. But my memory of those estimates was around $1 to $2 million to get it set up, and it may be around $1 million in operating costs annually once it was up and running. But, again, don't quote me on that. I have to get them to the table to be sure. Do you mind if we
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
1:12:59
bring them up just real quick? Yeah. Department of Health.
Matt Gilmore, Department of Health. Thank you for being here today. We haven't seen your smile on the face in a couple weeks, so we had to bring you to the front and center. Glad to be here. So looking at this bill, I know we've seen great success with our trauma system. Again, I think we're all trying to balance money right now with Medicaid and where we're at. So can you give some of the cost estimates that you think to get this started and to maintain it, and where would the funding come from for that?
Matt Gilmore
Unverified
1:13:44
I can't speak to where the funding would come from.
As far as dollar amounts, I think Representative Johnson's about right. It kind of depends on, you know, to what scale you want to go to. I mean, typically you start small and build out. But I think, you know, several million dollars on the front end to get it set up would be, you know, because you're going to need staff to go assess the hospitals. You're going to need health care professionals that know that process, know what an OB department should have and to meet the framework established by ACOG, I believe, is who he mentioned.
There are some things that it would be cost on the front end, but I think that would go away over time. But you would need ongoing revenue or funding to put into that. And it would just depend on, you know, what level you all wanted and then, you know, how many hospitals you wanted to fund and then to, you know, what money is available as well. I
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
1:14:37
think there would be two buckets of money to think about once you've got this set up. There's the operational bucket, which we already have the trauma system that's running. So, you know, we would have to layer on, you know, hopefully we could layer on to the trauma system.
We already have the postpartum call center at UAMS up and running. At some point, the grant money is going to play out on that one, but that one's probably funded for another two or three years. And then just the
operating the grant program, that's the operational piece, which I think is probably less than a million dollars annually to operate. Yeah, I think some of the initial several million or whatever would
Matt Gilmore
Unverified
1:15:11
go down significantly once you get it set up and going. That would be much smaller, but there would be some startup costs. And then the second portion of the
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
1:15:19
money would be, okay, how much do we want to subsidize the hospitals?
And that's the really open-ended ticket, right? Do we want to put a million dollars into the subsidies, five million, ten million? How much do we think we need to put into the grant pot? So I think there's this startup cost, which is a couple million dollars, and I think there's ongoing operational costs in the range of a million dollars, depending, again, on how big it is. And then there's how much money do we want to put in the grant program. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you,
Mr. Chair. So Representative Johnson, I just want to make sure I'm clear on this.
I thought I was. Now I'm not sure that I am. but I know you said there's no appropriation with the fund, but you are requiring the establishment of the framework and all that
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
1:16:02
currently or not? No, all that is – the way I read the bill, all that's contingency on funding. Is
Matt Gilmore
Unverified
1:16:07
that the way you read the bill as well? I think that was our
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
1:16:10
intent when you spoke. I haven't looked at the –
Yeah, the specific language, the way I read the specific language is that the setup and the subsection is all dependent on both funding and appropriation, which currently has not been identified. Okay. I
Speaker 267
1:16:20
just want to double-check. Thank you, sir. Any other questions from the committee?
Seeing none, or anyone else in the audience speak for or against the bill? I notice how Mr. Gilmore leaves real rapidly at that point. Are you closed for your bill?
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
1:16:39
I am, Mr. Chairman, to make a motion. Do pass as amended. That's
a proper motion. Any discussion on motion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed? No. I'm going to rule the bill has failed from lack of 11 votes.
So with that, you don't have any other bills?
I do not. Thank you. Yes, sir. So we'll move on to Representative Mayberry. Go back to the top of the agenda. I believe it's House Bill 1164. Is that correct?
is it house bill 1164 okay your uh members has physical impacts if you would
pause for a second we'll get that passed out no amendment though correct okay
Representative Mayberry, you're recognized to present
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
1:18:42
your bill. Thank you, members. State Representative Julie Mayberry, and I'll let David. David Cook,
David Cook
Unverified
1:18:48
Director of Government Affairs for the Alzheimer's
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
1:18:52
Association. We presented this bill a few weeks back, and we have worked with DHS,
and as I mentioned in the beginning, we worked with the Arkansas Medical Society and with Blue Cross to address some issues that they had on the bill. I don't know of anybody right now who is against the bill. I believe we're all neutral, and what this bill will do would make it easier for someone to get an earlier diagnosis on Alzheimer's or dementia, And the need for that is so incredibly great right now because there is actually medicine that can be provided to someone in an early stage of Alzheimer's,
which is showing tremendous progress. And so that's why it's so important to get these cognitive tests done at the earliest stage possible. I'll let David Cook kind of explain a little bit more. As you know, Alzheimer's is a
David Cook
Unverified
1:19:46
growing public health crisis here in the state of Arkansas. early detection and diagnosis has always been a priority of the association but now in the era of treatments is even more paramount to ensure patients in arkansans have access to cognitive
assessments there are now medical benefits as treatments are available for people in the very early stages of the disease and what house bill 1164 does just ensure that there is established insurance coverage but also medicaid coverage for individuals who have a higher risk of developing dementia. So there's medical benefits and I know there's emotional and social benefits for caregivers. My father, he's in the VA health system, but we fought for about four or five years to get him accurately diagnosed. And once we got an accurate diagnosis, it's really changed
the way that my mother's been able to care for him. And we were able to put some things in place as his disease progresses. And he was able in the early stages to inform how he wanted to be cared as he advances in his disease as well. So early detection and diagnosis is so critical, and what House Bill 1164 does just to ensure that there's access to cognitive assessments. Happy to take any questions if there are any.
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
1:21:00
And the only thing that I would like to add, too, is that this did come out of, I co-chair with Clint Penzo the Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Advisory Committee
that meets at least quarterly throughout the year, And this actually came from the Department of Health as one of the suggestions into our packet that we put together as things that we want to accomplish. So that's where this idea actually came from. And I'd appreciate a good vote. Any questions from
the committee? Representative Barnes, you recognize. I
Representative Glenn Barnes
Unverified
1:21:35
have one question. Thank you, Chair. Who qualifies for the examination?
How do we pick the people that
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
1:21:43
will be examined? Well, it's a May. The physician and the health care provider, anyone over 60, the physician may offer. This is not a shall. They don't have to do this. That was one of the things that the Arkansas Medical Society asked for us to change, so it is a May, and it just ensures that there's coverage of
Representative Glenn Barnes
Unverified
1:22:06
it. So this is not basically just going to be testing everyone above that age? IT WILL BE SOMEONE THAT SHOWS SIGNS OF MAYBE HAVING THAT PARTICULAR DISEASE.
Speaker 281
1:22:15
NEW SPEAKER: THANK YOU. NEW SPEAKER: ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM COMMITTEE? Okay, hold on one second.
Sorry, business unrelated to this bill, but I had to get it done. Anyone in the audience speak for or against the bill? And, Mr. Cook, you've already testified, correct? Yes, sir. Okay. Are you closed for your bill? Yes. I have a motion to do pass. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? I'm going to say the bill has failed from a lack of reaching 11.
Sorry about that. All right, Representative Innit, you're
Representative Denise Jones Ennett
Unverified
1:23:42
recognized. Good morning, committee members. How are you? I am State Representative Denise Sennett.
I represent District 80 here in downtown Little Rock and parts of Pulaski County. I have House Bill 1856, and this is just a very simple bill. The title says what the bill does. Back last session, me and Senator Wallace, we did a bill to increase penalties for perpetual cemeteries. And this bill in front of you today is just to increase the penalty from $500 to $1,000.
any questions on the bill anyone in the audience oh representative
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
1:24:35
long you recognize thank you mr chairman um representing it um i'm sorry if you could kind of catch
Representative Denise Jones Ennett
Unverified
1:24:44
me up on what what the fines for um so perpetual care cemeteries um i have one in my district this is a constituent-led bill. Perpetual care cemeteries are the, you pay money, it's supposed
to go into a fund, and they're supposed to maintain the cemeteries. And what I'm finding with this one particular one in my district, they're not doing so. And so the cemetery is just rotting, and the sexton that's over it is not keeping up. He's not doing what he's supposed to do. The owner is not doing what he's supposed to do. So this bill is to strengthen the penalties so they will pay more for every infraction that they're violating.
Speaker 228
1:25:36
Representative Pilkative. Is there any way for someone who keeps
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:25:43
on violating this, because it sounds like it's a recurring problem, is there any way to remove them from the management of the cemetery? or have
Representative Denise Jones Ennett
Unverified
1:25:51
someone take over the cemeteries? Do I have somebody from the Arkansas Insurance Department here? That's fine. We
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:26:00
talk a lot about cemeteries all the time, and I just was curious if we need to get more aggressive.
Representative Denise Jones Ennett
Unverified
1:26:07
I like you, Bill. I like getting more aggressive. Yeah, and I would love to work with somebody who would like to work with me with this because this is an issue, and we keep on increasing the penalties, but it's still not working. So until we can find a way to help to put perpetual cemeteries, this is the only solution that
Speaker 291
1:26:30
I see. We increased that penalty last session as
well, but still nothing happened. I think it's a good direction.
I think Representative Pilkington has a good idea, but I don't think there's a statute that sets up that
Speaker 292
1:26:45
allows that at the moment. This has been something
Representative Denise Jones Ennett
Unverified
1:26:47
we've almost handled every session I've been here. It's a great area, and I think I requested an interim study to address this issue to maybe bring something forward next session. Perfect.
Anyone in the audience speak for or against the bill? Seeing none, you close for your bill. I'm close. Representative Pilkington, do you have a motion? I have a motion.
Do pass. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed?
Ayes have it. Thank you, committee members. Representative Bentley, you're recognized to present House Bill 1854. Thank you,
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
1:27:34
Chairman. Thank you, committee. This is House Bill 1854, a very simple bill, pro-business, pro-patient care, pro-worker bill.
Well, I think so. Right now in Arkansas, to be a licensed home health care worker takes 40 hours of training. And if these employees go from one employer to the next, right now there's not clarification. So some of them happen to redo that complete 40 hours of training, which makes it financially straining on the provider, the businesses, and a lot of extra time for the people that are working. So this just allows them to be a verification that they've already received their 40 hours of training and not have to repeat it.
Very simple bill. So just one line, making sure they've already had their 40 hours of training, they don't have to repeat it if they move to another company that they work for.
And I'd be happy to take any questions. Any questions by the committee? Seeing none, is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak for or against the bill? Seeing no one, your representative,
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
1:28:32
you're recognized to close for your bill. I'm closed and
I make a motion and do pass. That's a proper motion. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Congratulations, you've passed your bill.
Representative Ladyman, you're recognized to go to
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
1:29:06
presenting 1858? You're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Committee, HB 1858, is a bill that was brought to me by a constituent. There was an 11-year-old boy in my district who was diagnosed at level 2 diabetes at 11 years old.
And the bottom line is that if he had been diagnosed earlier, it would have not gotten to that stage. This is based on the medical professional that was involved. So they asked me to run a bill to require testing for diabetes at 3-year-old of all children. It's a very simple test, the AC-1, I believe it helped me out here, Phil, AC-1 test for all children at the age of 3 to try to catch diabetes at an earlier age.
And I put this out there, got a lot of comments back from people, and it's a good idea, but it's a very complicated thing. The cost, who does it, how do we do it, is it just doctors, is it teachers, what's the cost? So I think it's a good bill. I want to run it again, but there needs to be a lot of work done on this. So I want to put it in interim study and come back next year with a really good bill because I think it's something we need to do. So thank you, Mr. Chairman. Are you
making a motion to put that into interim study? Yes, I am.
That's a proper motion. Any discussion on the motion? Yeah, Ms. Boak,
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:30:28
it's actually A1C, sorry, not ALC, sorry. Thank you, Dr. Pilkington. All right,
seeing no further discussion, all those in favor say aye. Opposed? Congratulations, sir. We'll move that to interim study. Thank you. All right, members, we don't have anyone else that signed up for a particular bill. Is there anyone on the committee that has a bill on the regular agenda they would like to run today?
I'll give you a second. We've moved around the agenda. We want to make sure that committee members have an opportunity to check on that. All right,
seeing none, we'll continue to work through the agenda. You're recognized to go to the end of the table.
if you will identify yourself for the record and you will be recognized to run senate bill
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
1:31:42
264 thank you uh represent baron pilgdon district 45 um here to redeem myself today actually no this is uh this is a good bill by senator ervin and lee johnson i know in the essence of time i think just getting off the agenda would be great so essentially we're just creating a primary care Payment Improvement Working Group that's going to be appointed by the Speaker, the Pro Temp,
and have a few members who will be from the Insurance Commission, a designee from Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, the Secretary of the Department of Human Services, or his or her designee. And so it's essentially just a working group to try to figure out ways that we can improve payments on primary care. It doesn't force anything to happen. It's just a working group. And so with that, I don't take any questions, but it's a pretty straightforward bill. Any questions by the committee?
Seeing none, anyone in the audience that would like to speak for or against the bill? Seeing no one, you're recognized to close for your bill.
I'm close for my bill. Make a motion. Do pass. That's a proper motion. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Congratulations, Representative. You passed your bill. Committee, any other bills on the agenda that need to be run today? Seeing none, I will encourage you all to continue to work through the deferred bills. We've got a long list of deferred bills. If you will, as you're ready to move those to active, reach out to staff, Ms. Shanice, Copy Representative Wardlaw, Chairman Wardlaw, and myself,
and we'll move those bills. Seeing no further business, we stand adjourned.
Agenda
REGULAR AGENDA
HB1142 A. Brown TO CREATE THE REPRODUCTIVE EMPOWERMENT AND SUPPORT THROUGH OPTIMAL RESTORATION (RESTORE) ACT.
HB1164 J. Mayberry TO ALLOW A PHYSICIAN OR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER TO OFFER COGNITIVE ASSESSMENTS FOR CERTAIN PATIENTS; AND TO MANDATE THAT INSURANCE POLICIES COVER ASSESSMENTS FOR COGNITIVE FUNCTION FOR CERTAIN PATIENTS.
HB1277 Gramlich TO AMEND PAYMENTS FOR CORRECTIVE ACTION REGARDING PETROLEUM STORAGE TANKS.
HB1332 Pilkington TO REQUIRE THE ARKANSAS MEDICAID PROGRAM TO COVER GLUCAGON- LIKE PEPTIDE-1 RECEPTOR AGONISTS, ALSO KNOWN AS GLP-1 AGONISTS, WHEN PRESCRIBED FOR WEIGHT LOSS.
HB1588 McAlindon TO REQUIRE APPROVAL OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES SEEKS OR IMPLEMENTS AN EXPANSION OF COVERAGE FOR THE ARKANSAS MEDICAID PROGRAM.
HB1592 J. Mayberry TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS ALZHEIMER'S AND DEMENTIA PUBLIC HEALTH ACT.
SB257 C. Penzo TO AMEND THE MEDICAID FAIRNESS ACT; TO EXTEND THE APPEAL PERIOD FOR PROVIDERS IN THE ARKANSAS MEDICAID PROGRAM; AND TO REQUIRE COMPREHENSIVE INFORMATION IN NOTICES OF ADVERSE DECISIONS.
HB1653 Cavenaugh TO SET STANDARDS FOR LICENSING AND REGULATION OF PSYCHIATRIC RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT FACILITIES; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
SB100 C. Penzo TO AUTHORIZE THE ARKANSAS MEDICAID PROGRAM TO RECOGNIZE A PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT AS A PRIMARY CARE PROVIDER.
HB1723 Pilkington TO AMEND INITIATED ACT 1 OF 2000, ALSO KNOWN AS THE TOBACCO SETTLEMENT PROCEEDS ACT; AND TO DIRECT THE ARKANSAS MINORITY HEALTH COMMISSION TO ESTABLISH AND ADMINISTER A GRANT PROGRAM FOR SCHOOL-BASED HEALTH CENTERS.
HB1776 Lundstrum TO AMEND THE CERTIFICATE OF NEED REQUIRED TO OBTAIN A SOLID WASTE LANDFILL OR TRANSFER STATION PERMIT OR AN EXPANSION OF A SOLID WASTE LANDFILL OR TRANSFER STATION PERMIT.
HB1791 C. Cooper TO CLARIFY THAT THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION AND THE UNITED NATIONS DO NOT HAVE JURISDICTION OR POWER IN THIS STATE AND DO NOT HAVE AUTHORITY TO ENFORCE OR IMPLEMENT ACTIONS IN THIS STATE.
HB1795 A. Brown TO CREATE THE FERTILITY CLINIC LICENSURE ACT.
HB1816 L. Johnson TO PROHIBIT HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS AND HEALTHCARE INSURERS FROM USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE DELIVERY OF HEALTHCARE SERVICES OR THE GENERATION OF MEDICAL RECORDS UNLESS CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS ARE MET.
HB1818 L. Johnson TO CREATE THE MEDICAID PROVIDER-LED CARE TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT.
HB1819 L. Johnson TO REQUIRE THE STATE REGISTRAR OF VITAL RECORDS TO COORDINATE WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES TO CONTACT MOTHERS FOR SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE DURING THE POSTPARTUM PERIOD.
HB1854 Bentley TO EXEMPT A HOME CAREGIVER FROM HOME CAREGIVER TRAINING IF HE OR SHE PREVIOUSLY COMPLETED TRAINING.
HB1856 Ennett TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE STATE BOARD OF EMBALMERS, FUNERAL DIRECTORS, CEMETERIES, AND BURIAL SERVICES; AND TO INCREASE THE CIVIL PENALTY FOR VIOLATIONS BY A LICENSEE.
HB1858 Ladyman TO REQUIRE A PEDIATRICIAN TO SCREEN FOR TYPE 1 DIABETES AT THE YEARLY WELL-CHILD VISIT; AND TO REQUIRE THAT THE ARKANSAS MEDICAID PROGRAM AND HEALTH BENEFIT PLANS COVER TYPE 1 DIABETES SCREENINGS.
HB1869 L. Johnson TO CREATE THE MATERNAL OUTCOMES MANAGEMENT SYSTEM WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH; AND TO ORGANIZE MATERNAL HEALTH RESOURCES.
HB1880 Hudson TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS HUMAN LIFE PROTECTION ACT AND THE ARKANSAS UNBORN CHILD PROTECTION ACT TO ADD CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS.
HB1882 Pilkington TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF ENROLLABLE MEDICAID BENEFICIARY POPULATION AND ALLOW THE GOVERNOR TO DESIGNATE MEDICAID POPULATIONS TO BE ENROLLED UNDER THE MEDICAID PROVIDER-LED ORGANIZED CARE ACT.
HB1888 Steele TO AMEND THE DIVISION OF WORKFORCE SERVICES LAW; AND TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT RECORDS FOR INDIVIDUALS.
SB264 Irvin TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS PRIMARY CARE PAYMENT IMPROVEMENT WORKING GROUP.
SB460 Irvin TO MODIFY THE COMPLIANCE ADVISORY PANEL; TO REPEAL THE MARKETING RECYCLABLES PROGRAM OF THE COMPLIANCE ADVISORY PANEL; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
HB1768
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — PUBLIC HEALTH, WELFARE AND LABOR COMMITTEE- HOUSE, Apr 1, 2025 | Agenda | 3 | Official source ↗ |
Speakers
Representative Jeff Wardlaw Chair
Unverified
Representative Frances Cavenaugh
Unverified
Speaker 8
Speaker 19
Speaker 21
Representative Robin Lundstrum
Unverified
Representative Aaron Pilkington
Unverified
Representative Zack Gramlich
Unverified
Speaker 70
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
Speaker 86
Speaker 85
Representative Dolly Henley
Unverified
Chair
Unverified
Speaker 65
Speaker 102
Speaker 105
Speaker 107
Speaker 109
Speaker 48
Representative Ryan A. Rose
Unverified
Speaker 129
Speaker 136
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
Speaker 161
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
Speaker 162
Speaker 174
Speaker 176
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge Chair
Unverified
Speaker 214
Speaker 219
Speaker 224
Speaker 221
Representative Denise Jones Ennett
Unverified
Speaker 207
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
Speaker 181
Speaker 241
Speaker 33
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
Matt Gilmore
Unverified
Speaker 267
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
David Cook
Unverified
Representative Glenn Barnes
Unverified
Speaker 281
Representative Wayne Long
Unverified
Speaker 228
Speaker 291
Speaker 292
Speaker 240