Insurance & Commerce- House
Video
Transcript
1 document
Bills discussed (39)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
SB236
Act 261
· 4 mentions in chapter, transcript, agenda
Matched: “SB236 J. Boyd TO AMEND THE INSURANCE HOLDING COMPANY REGULATORY A…”
|
TO AMEND THE INSURANCE HOLDING COMPANY REGULATORY ACT. | J. Boyd | Notification that SB236 is now Act 261 |
|
HB1517
Act 347
· 3 mentions in transcript, agenda, chapter
Matched: “Ray, House District 69. This is, uh, House Bill 1517. Mr. Chair, I have a couple of guests here to present with…”
|
TO ESTABLISH THE EARNED WAGE ACCESS SERVICES ACT. | Ray | Notification that HB1517 is now Act 347 |
|
HB1595
Act 349
· 3 mentions in agenda, chapter, transcript
Matched: “…IDER LAWS; AND TO AMEND THE PATIENT PROTECTION ACT OF 1995. HB1595 Steimel TO ENACT THE STATE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT'S GENERAL O…”
|
TO ENACT THE STATE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT'S GENERAL OMNIBUS AMENDMENT OF ARKANSAS INSURANCE CODE. | Steimel | Notification that HB1595 is now Act 349 |
|
HB1298
Act 307
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1298 L. Johnson TO MODIFY PAYMENT OF BENEFITS FOR CERTAIN HEALTH…”
|
TO MODIFY PAYMENT OF BENEFITS FOR CERTAIN HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS UNDER A HEALTH BENEFIT PLAN. | L. Johnson | Notification that HB1298 is now Act 307 |
|
HB1367
Act 346
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1367 Warren TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS TITLE INSURANCE ACT; AND TO RE…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS TITLE INSURANCE ACT; AND TO REGULATE ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS BY … | Warren | Notification that HB1367 is now Act 346 |
|
HB1467
Act 557
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…Tosh Rep. Jim Wooten REGULAR AGENDA Number Sponsor Subtitle HB1467 Achor TO AMEND THE UNIFORM MONEY SERVICES ACT. HB1488 Wardl…”
|
TO AMEND THE UNIFORM MONEY SERVICES ACT. | J. Boyd | Notification that HB1467 is now Act 557 |
|
HB1531
Act 630
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1531 Achor TO PROHIBIT PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURERS FROM RESTRIC…”
|
TO PROHIBIT PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURERS FROM RESTRICTING OR LIMITING PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS TO A LIMITED DISTRIBUTION NETWORK … | Achor | Notification that HB1531 is now Act 630 |
|
HB1547
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1547 L. Johnson TO AMEND THE WATER AUTHORITY ACT; AND TO AMEND T…”
|
TO AMEND THE WATER AUTHORITY ACT; AND TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF "QUALIFIED CORPORATION" UNDER … | L. Johnson | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HB1587
Act 310
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…1583 Bentley TO MANDATE COVERAGE FOR ACQUIRED BRAIN INJURY. HB1587 L. Johnson CONCERNING THE ANY WILLING PROVIDER LAWS; AND TO…”
|
CONCERNING THE ANY WILLING PROVIDER LAWS; AND TO AMEND THE PATIENT PROTECTION ACT OF 1995. | L. Johnson | Notification that HB1587 is now Act 310 |
|
HB1602
Act 633
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1602 L. Johnson TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGER…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGER LICENSURE ACT; TO ESTABLISH FEES UNDER THE ARKANSAS … | L. Johnson | Notification that HB1602 is now Act 633 |
|
HB1620
Act 350
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1620 Gramlich TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING PHARMACY BENEFITS MANA…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGERS; AND TO REGULATE PROCESSING AND PAYMENT OF … | Gramlich | Notification that HB1620 is now Act 350 |
|
HB1625
Act 974
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1625 Barnett TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR LICENSED HOME INSPECTORS. | Barnett | Notification that HB1625 is now Act 974 |
|
SB229
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB229 J. Boyd TO CREATE THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES WITH…”
|
TO CREATE THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. | J. Boyd | Sine Die adjournment |
|
SB237
Act 554
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB237 J. Boyd TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE LICENSING AND REGUL…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE LICENSING AND REGULATION OF CAPTIVE INSURERS. | J. Boyd | Notification that SB237 is now Act 554 |
|
HB1009
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…IVE INSURERS. PENDING FISCAL IMPACT Number Sponsor Subtitle HB1009 A. Collins TO ALLOW PREGNANCY TO BE A QUALIFYING EVENT FOR…”
|
TO ALLOW PREGNANCY TO BE A QUALIFYING EVENT FOR ENROLLMENT IN CERTAIN HEALTH BENEFIT PLANS. | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1014
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…FYING EVENT FOR ENROLLMENT IN CERTAIN HEALTH BENEFIT PLANS. HB1014 A. Collins TO REQUIRE COVERAGE OF IN VITRO FERTILIZATION UN…”
|
TO REQUIRE COVERAGE OF IN VITRO FERTILIZATION UNDER THE STATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOL LIFE AND … | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1055
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…STATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOL LIFE AND HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM. HB1055 J. Mayberry TO ESTABLISH COVERAGE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT T…”
|
TO ESTABLISH COVERAGE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT TO SLOW THE PROGRESSION OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE OR OTHER … | J. Mayberry | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1150
Act 624
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…STATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOL LIFE AND HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM. HB1150 J. Moore TO PROHIBIT A PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGER FROM OBTAI…”
|
TO PROHIBIT A PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGER FROM OBTAINING CERTAIN PHARMACY PERMITS. | J. Moore | Notification that HB1150 is now Act 624 |
|
HB1240
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…Y BENEFITS MANAGER FROM OBTAINING CERTAIN PHARMACY PERMITS. HB1240 Andrews TO EXPAND ELIGIBILITY FOR COVERAGE UNDER THE STATE…”
|
TO EXPAND ELIGIBILITY FOR COVERAGE UNDER THE STATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOL LIFE AND HEALTH INSURANCE … | Andrews | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
HB1288
Act 423
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…PLANS. Page 2 of 3 DEFERRED BILLS Number Sponsor Subtitle HB1288 L. Johnson TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS HEALTH CARE CONSUMER ACT;…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS HEALTH CARE CONSUMER ACT; AND TO REQUIRE A HEALTHCARE INSURER TO … | L. Johnson | Notification that HB1288 is now Act 423 |
|
HB1290
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM TO CERTAIN VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS. HB1290 L. Johnson TO MANDATE COVERAGE FOR MENTAL HEALTH WELLNESS E…”
|
TO MANDATE COVERAGE FOR MENTAL HEALTH WELLNESS EXAMINATIONS; AND TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS SUPPORT OF … | L. Johnson | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1297
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…VE PAYMENTS TO A PROVIDER UPON CREDENTIALING OF A PROVIDER. HB1297 L. Johnson CONCERNING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, ALGORITHMS,…”
|
CONCERNING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, ALGORITHMS, AND OTHER AUTOMATED TECHNOLOGIES; AND TO REGULATE CERTAIN PRACTICES OF HEALTHCARE … | L. Johnson | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HB1299
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…; AND TO REGULATE CERTAIN PRACTICES OF HEALTHCARE INSURERS. HB1299 L. Johnson TO PROHIBIT HEALTHCARE INSURERS FROM EXERCISING…”
|
TO PROHIBIT HEALTHCARE INSURERS FROM EXERCISING RECOUPMENT FOR PAYMENT OF HEALTHCARE SERVICES MORE THAN ONE … | L. Johnson | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HB1300
Act 510
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…NE YEAR AFTER THE PAYMENT FOR HEALTHCARE SERVICES WAS MADE. HB1300 L. Johnson TO AMEND THE PRIOR AUTHORIZATION TRANSPARENCY AC…”
|
TO AMEND THE PRIOR AUTHORIZATION TRANSPARENCY ACT. | L. Johnson | Notification that HB1300 is now Act 510 |
|
HB1316
Act 390
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…COVERAGE FOR HEALTHCARE SERVICES PROVIDED IN MOBILE UNITS. HB1316 F. Allen TO MANDATE COVERAGE FOR LUNG CANCER SCREENINGS. HB…”
|
TO MANDATE COVERAGE FOR LUNG CANCER SCREENINGS. | F. Allen | Notification that HB1316 is now Act 390 |
|
HB1320
Act 626
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…16 F. Allen TO MANDATE COVERAGE FOR LUNG CANCER SCREENINGS. HB1320 Wooldridge TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING CRISIS STABILIZATION…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING CRISIS STABILIZATION UNITS AND HEALTHCARE INSURERS. | Wooldridge | Notification that HB1320 is now Act 626 |
|
HB1321
Act 513
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…CERNING CRISIS STABILIZATION UNITS AND HEALTHCARE INSURERS. HB1321 Wooldridge TO REGULATE STEP THERAPY AND FAIL FIRST PROTOCOL…”
|
TO REGULATE STEP THERAPY AND FAIL FIRST PROTOCOLS CONCERNING CERTAIN PRESCRIBED VENTILATORS. | Wooldridge | Notification that HB1321 is now Act 513 |
|
HB1333
Act 627
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…FIRST PROTOCOLS CONCERNING CERTAIN PRESCRIBED VENTILATORS. HB1333 Hudson TO MANDATE COVERAGE FOR BREASTFEEDING AND LACTATION…”
|
TO MANDATE COVERAGE FOR BREASTFEEDING AND LACTATION CONSULTANT SERVICES. | Hudson | Notification that HB1333 is now Act 627 |
|
HB1354
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…VERAGE FOR BREASTFEEDING AND LACTATION CONSULTANT SERVICES. HB1354 Lundstrum TO REGULATE PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGERS; TO AMEND…”
|
TO REGULATE PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGERS; TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE STATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOL … | Lundstrum | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
HB1408
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1408 Pilkington TO ALLOW QUALIFYING PATIENTS OR DESIGNATED CAREG…”
|
TO ALLOW QUALIFYING PATIENTS OR DESIGNATED CAREGIVERS TO PURCHASE MEDICAL MARIJUANA USING A FLEXIBLE SPENDING … | Pilkington | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1409
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…TO REGULATE SECURITY MEASURES AT RETAIL CONVENIENCE STORES. HB1409 Long TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING ENERGY; AND TO CREATE THE E…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING ENERGY; AND TO CREATE THE ELECTRIC RELIABILITY ACT. | Long | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1424
Act 628
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…ULATE SOLICITING RESIDENTIAL CONTRACTORS AND TREE TRIMMERS. HB1424 L. Johnson TO MANDATE COVERAGE FOR SEVERE OBESITY TREATMENT…”
|
TO MANDATE COVERAGE FOR SEVERE OBESITY TREATMENTS. | L. Johnson | Notification that HB1424 is now Act 628 |
|
HB1426
Act 569
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…Johnson TO MANDATE COVERAGE FOR SEVERE OBESITY TREATMENTS. HB1426 L. Johnson TO AMEND THE HEALTHCARE CONTRACTING SIMPLIFICATI…”
|
TO AMEND THE HEALTHCARE CONTRACTING SIMPLIFICATION ACT. | L. Johnson | Notification that HB1426 is now Act 569 |
|
HB1488
Act 391
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1488 Wardlaw TO AMEND THE STANDARD NONFORFEITURE LAW FOR LIFE IN…”
|
TO AMEND THE STANDARD NONFORFEITURE LAW FOR LIFE INSURANCE; AND TO REQUIRE AN INSURER TO … | Wardlaw | Notification that HB1488 is now Act 391 |
|
HB1509
Act 452
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “AGENDA (Revised 3/5/2025 @ 8:00 AM) Removed HB1509 from Regular Agenda House Committee on Insurance and Commer…”
|
TO CREATE THE SECOND AMENDMENT FINANCIAL PRIVACY ACT; AND TO PROHIBIT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FROM USING … | Beaty Jr. | Notification that HB1509 is now Act 452 |
|
HB1519
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1519 Cavenaugh TO ALLOW THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMME…”
|
TO ALLOW THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE HIRING AND … | Cavenaugh | Died in House at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1533
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…RY PRACTICES; AND TO PROVIDE FOR ENFORCEMENT OF VIOLATIONS. HB1533 Gramlich TO CREATE THE DECENTRALIZED UNINCORPORATED NONPROF…”
|
TO CREATE THE DECENTRALIZED UNINCORPORATED NONPROFIT ASSOCIATION ACT. | Gramlich | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
HB1583
Act 348
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1583 Bentley TO MANDATE COVERAGE FOR ACQUIRED BRAIN INJURY.”
|
TO MANDATE COVERAGE FOR ACQUIRED BRAIN INJURY. | Bentley | Notification that HB1583 is now Act 348 |
|
SB240
Act 343
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB240 Hill TO AMEND THE CREDIT REPORTING DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1989;…”
|
TO AMEND THE CREDIT REPORTING DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1989; AND TO CLARIFY THE CONTENT REQUIRED … | Hill | Notification that SB240 is now Act 343 |
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- October 2, 2026
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
0:12
will try to do as many as we can because our calendar is starting to fill up. We are going to begin with, um, rep representative Warren, um, And, and to refresh the member's recollection, last, last meeting, um. Representative Warren started this bill, um, and now he's
going to continue. So if you would just, um, introduce yourself and the bill that you're doing and proceed with your testimony.
Representative Les Warren
Unverified
0:37
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, committee members, first of all, I've got an amendment, uh, you
all know how sensitive the Senate is and somehow this one my Senate sponsor didn't get on the original bill, so I am, my amendment is simply to add Senator Pinzo as the Senate sponsor so that they'll take up the bill when it arrives down there, hopefully so, uh, that's the amendment. And I would make a motion. to approve the amendment. Representative Perry, the bill is 1367. I'm sorry.
13. So we have a motion to approve the amendment adding Senator Penzo. All in favor say aye. And he
Representative Les Warren
Unverified
1:19
opposed, you may present your bill as amended, Representative Warren. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, now that you've had a chance to, to look at this, let's try again. Uh, the circuit clerk is the custodian on public records. In recent years, out of state, third parties have persuaded largely inexperienced circuit clerks to delegate that authority to them. That's not a duty that they can delegate to some other entity. Those third parties then
watermarked the documents as their own versus the public records they are and allow access to the documents for a profit. This bill reinforces the circuit clerk's custodial role and brings the current statute into the electronic age. Previously, the statute contemplated mechanical transmittal of documents. This covers the current electronic transmittal of the documents. While the circuit clerks and land title groups were meeting. They agreed to a maximum fee per month for the electronic
transfer of documents to a title agent or agency as well as those associated with the agency. Uh, the circuit clerks and the Arkansas land Title Association are in complete support of this bill. I don't know of any opposition, so. I'd be glad to entertain any questions. Thank you, warden. Questions about the committee. Saying none, is there anyone
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
2:36
in the who would like to speak against this bill? anyone in the audience who would like to speak for this bill. OK
We do have some people signed up, but I believe they're comfortable to not speak at this stage. So Representative Warren,
you are recognized to close for your bill. I am closed for the bill. I make a motion to pass. OK. Thank you, sir. We have a motion to pass on the bill as amended, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed say no. Congratulations, you've passed your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, committee. Representative Stamo it's gonna go to the end of the table. He has 2 bills to run.
Murtama, when you get there, just Introduce yourself and the bill numbers that you would like to present, sir. Thank
you, Mr. Chair. Trey Steel, State Representative District 2, if it's all right with the committee, I'd like to start with the uh House Bill 1595. Yes, sir. All right. So this is a, uh, Arkansas Insurance Department omnibus bill. It's just a lot of technical correction in there, bringing it up to uh current
code on the Fed side and the state side. So with that, I'll entertain any questions that y'all may have. Any questions
about the committee? OK. Saying none. I'm sure anyone in the who'd like to speak against this bill. They know when anyone likes big for the bell. Seeing that
Representative Les Warren
Unverified
4:07
represent Stamo you are recognized to close your bell. Thank you. I make a motion to do pass,
Chair
Unverified
4:12
please ask for a good vote? Yep, I have a motion do
pass, um, on this bill, all in favor say
aye. Any post say no. Congratulations, you passed your bill. All right. Next up, uh, Senate Bill 236. This is an insurance holding company regulatory Act. What this does is this will bring us in line with the national accreditation and allow us to review these holding companies and make sure they are in the best interest in working with Arkansas insured and, uh, there again, it's pretty simple bill that brings us in line
nationally and on the state level as well to protect our consumers and the insured. And with that, I'll take any questions. Any questions about the committee? Seeing no
questions or anyone who would like to speak? Against the bill? I'm gonna
give the members a moment to look. It's it's SB 236. Yeah, I'd be happy to, like I said, take any questions on this sir. Any questions by the committee.
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
5:21
OK, saying that anyone who like speak against this bill, anyone in the audience who'd like to speak for this bill,
Chair
Unverified
5:28
um. Representative Stan, you're recognized to close for your bill. I am closed and make a motion to pass and appreciate a good vote. OK, we have a motion do pass. All in favor say aye. Any post say no. Congratulations, you passed your bill. Thank you, community members. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Representative Starall is Representative Ray?
And yes, Representative Ray, if you would approach and introduce yourself and please, please state the bill number that you're going to, um, proceed with. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Committee, good morning. Representative
Representative David Ray
Unverified
6:06
Ray, House District 69. This is, uh, House Bill 1517. Mr. Chair, I have a couple of guests here to present with me. Is that OK? Absolutely. Have them come to the
table and introduce themselves. It appears you also have an amendment.
Yes. OK. So have them introduce themselves and who they're with and then proceed on your amendment. Chairman
Andrew Welch
Unverified
6:32
Maddox and members of the committee, we appreciate you being here today. My name is Andrew Welch. I'm a government relations manager with Dailyay. We are the largest employer integrated earned
Speaker 22
6:45
wage access service provider. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Phil Goldfetter, CEO of the American FinTech Council, the largest financial technology trade group
Speaker 24
6:53
based in Washington DC representing the largest number of earned wage access providers. Thank you.
Chair
Unverified
7:00
Representative Ray, if you proceed on your amendment first, please. OK. Thank you. The amendment here is
Representative David Ray
Unverified
7:04
pretty simple. Um, it just fixes an engrossing error from uh, uh, the First Amendment that I made to the bill, and uh we've got some language in here that we're adding at the request of the bankers' association. Members, do we have any questions on the amendment?
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
7:26
OK, sit saying no. Thank you, Represent Day. We have a motion to adopt
the amendment. All in favor say aye. Any opposed say no. Represent Ray, you may proceed um with
Chair
Unverified
7:37
your bill as amended. All right. Thank
Representative David Ray
Unverified
7:40
you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. So this bill 1517 deals with the topic of earned wage access. Um, I'm gonna, before I get into what the bill does, I'm gonna spend a minute explaining what earned wage access is because our concept that I don't think everyone's familiar with. So earned wage
access is a unique financial services product that allows workers to access the wages that they've already earned ahead of their typically scheduled payday. Um, the product is exactly what is the name sounds like it allows workers to access their earned wage. Uh, why would anyone want or need this product. Most companies process payroll either twice a month or once a month, uh, but for a lot of workers, especially low or moderate income workers.
Um, they live paycheck to paycheck, depending on which which study that you choose to follow, anywhere between 50 to 65% of American workers live paycheck to paycheck, and as we all know, uh, bills don't necessarily wait for payday to arrive. And as a result, a lot of people have financial stress. They worry about things like being able to pay a bill on time or being afraid that a check that they wrote for something will bounce before payday arrives, that, that higher than expected
winter utility bill or an ill-timed car repair can leave people in a really tight spot. So to help people that are living closer to the margins, uh, help them to better budget and provide for their families. Earned wage access, uh, exists so they can, um, better control when they get paid. So functionally, earned wage access, operate if any of you are familiar with, you know, if you have the PayPal or Venmo app on your phone. It operates uh pretty similarly in that regard,
except it's for your paycheck. So once you earn a portion of your paycheck, whether you've worked 5 days or 7 days or 11 days or whatever. You can access a portion of your paycheck by transferring it to your checking account, for example. Um, the first question I get asked a lot when I've explained this issue is, is this a payday loan? Is it, is it a loan, the answer to that is no. Earned wage access differs in in
some very significant ways. So number one, it's, it's not a loan based on future wages that are not actually worked for, um, earned wage access doesn't have any of the key features of a loan such as there's no resource against the consumer. There's not a finance charge. There's no underwriting, no interest, late fees, penalties, and no credit checks. Um In fact, not only is earned wage
access not a loan. It's actually in many ways the opposite or an alternative to a loan, because when people find themselves in a tight spot financially, what they will typically turn to is credit card debt, um, or sometimes really high interest or destructive payday loans. Um, a lot of employers like Earned wage access because they see the stress that it reduces in the lives of their employees. There's a report done by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City that showed that, um,
earned wage access results in lower turnover for employees and also less absenteeism. Um, the important thing to know is that earned wage access is legal in all 50 states. Uh, there are approx there are over 400 companies in Arkansas that provide earned wage access as a benefit to their employees. A lot of those companies are names that you would recognize like Kroger, Hilton, Tractor Supply. Casey's general stores, um, companies that that um we
interact with on a daily basis. So what the legislation in front of you does is it lays out a legal framework for earned wage access. This is currently an unregulated space in Arkansas, even though it's legal in all 50 states. The 1st 2.5 pages of the bill lays out some definitions. It defines earned wage access, uh, and some of the accompanying terms, um, the next 5 pages of the bill layout requirements for earned wage access companies.
It lays out things that they must do, um, in order to protect the consumer and also things that they're prohibited from doing. Um, uh, and with that, um, I think I'll open it up to questions and we'll do my
Chair
Unverified
12:23
best to answer those. Thank you, Representative Bray. Representative Allen,
Representative David Ray
Unverified
12:27
you recognize first question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On page 2. Uh, line 34, it says a fee means a charge imposed by a provider
for delivery of expedited delivery processes to a consumer. What
is that fee? Right. So that fee, uh, when I mentioned functionally, um EWA services, they function pretty similar to like PayPal or Venmo. If you're if you're familiar with PayPal, you know. If you have, let's say you have $300 in your PayPal account, you have the option to either do a free transfer that takes 2 to 3 business days for, uh, that money to move over your checking
account. If you want to do an instant transfer fee. There's a, if you don't want to do an instant transfer of those funds, there's an ATM like uh I would equate it to an ATM fee associated with that, where you pay, you know, $2.03 dollars, $4 something in that range to, to do an instant transfer of your funds. If that's what you choose to do. So what is the average fee? The, I'll let um the folks from the industry speak to that, but my understanding is that the average fee is somewhere in the range of $3.5. OK.
Speaker 24
13:40
Yeah, it's. Get your get your So as part of our standards that we've built out with the American FinTech Council, every single one of our members offers a free option and so every company is offering a free option and consumers are able to take advantage of that, and many do. The average rate for the CFPB across the industry is about $3.18 oftentimes being lower, um, like I said, there's always a free option as well.
Speaker 29
14:04
OK, so will you speak to the subscription and the membership charge also? Yeah, the revenue models were
Speaker 24
14:11
for different earned wage access companies are different like you'd expect in any industry, different companies operate a bit differently, and so, so some companies offer earned wage access as part of a suite of services that they have subscription fee for that they pay monthly. Some, as you heard the representative discuss, um, are integrated with employers, um, so that it works directly through the employers and then there are some who work directly with consumers. The goal is to ensure that every consumer has access to the services. Unfortunately, not every company is offering the service
and so I think various different models have, have, have sprung up in a responsible way to ensure that consumers can, can have
Representative David Ray
Unverified
14:49
access to the service. OK, uh, Say for example, uh, I have a, I wanna utilize the service. If I, if I were to utilize this service more than once. So each time that you like the service, a fee is charged. Is that correct? Thank
Speaker 41
15:07
you, Chairman Maddox and Representative for the question. So what this bill does is
Speaker 43
15:13
guarantee that every provider of Earned wage access services and every consumer has a free option, so they choose whether or not to pay an expedited fee for instant delivery, or they can choose to have a free option. So only time a consumer pays a fee is
Representative David Ray
Unverified
15:28
if they choose an expedited option, OK, so if, if they choose an expedited option, that means they get the money right away. Is that correct? OK, like on, um, Cash App. If you, uh, just go to standard so you get it like.
2 or 3 days later into your account. So this is very similar to
that. Am I correct? Yes, sir. OK. Thank you. And, and I would just add that it's, this is a totally optional product, no business is required to offer this. No employee is is required to use it. It's, it's just a, a product that it's an it's a fairly recent innovation in the financial
Speaker 33
16:06
services space, uh, that people have the option to avail themselves of it OK. Thank you. Representative McGrew.
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
16:18
ask for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Representative Ray, I think I, I understand this bill and I understand the need for it and the service that it provides and people that heaven emergency and need that money right away. It makes sense to me, and I see that you've added some uh some regulation in there to limit things, which is very good. I didn't see and I could have missed it. Is there anything that sits, because as I understand it, if I needed this money, Sam's on a two week pay scale. I needed it 5 days in. I could, I could get that money
quick and there's a charge relatively around $3.50 for each one of those transactions. Is there anything in this bill that limits in the future what these companies will
Representative David Ray
Unverified
17:00
be able to charge for that transaction. So there's no, there's not, and there's not currently any state in America, uh, that imposes a fee cap on earned wage access, that includes California, who did a 4-year study of, um, Earned wage access, transaction level data and over a 4 year
period, uh, so there's not any state in the
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
17:23
country that includes a fee cap. OK, so essentially the market controls it. There's, I'm assuming there's more than one company that provides this service. There's approximately 30 companies across the country that
Chair
Unverified
17:33
provide earned wage access. Thank you. Representative Baker, for a question. Thank you. Uh, is it fair to
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
17:42
say that a lot of the subscription aspect of this is actually determined and paid for by the employer. So, so
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
17:52
I myself have a small business. I do my payroll through a company called Paychecks, and they regularly offer me additional suites of services that I would pay for as an employer and then on the Employee facing inside, there's no charge to the employee. Is that, is that how this would roll out? Is it would be something that we offered to me as far as my suite of payroll services that I could choose to add on as an employer, so
Speaker 24
18:13
the subscription model is one revenue model of some of the companies that offer the service and the product. So it's just one aspect of it where some
companies are offering it as a suite of services, as you mentioned, um, but some are different again, every company is, is, is set up a bit differently and some companies have embraced the innovative technology. I think like any industry, some companies are quicker to. stop the newest consumer tools for their employees. So it's not quite as automatic, but there are some companies that are offering it as the sweetest services. I guess what I'm trying to
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
18:42
get To is that is it fair to say that the concern that there may be some sort of fee structure that would be applied on the employee is not really the revenue side that these
Speaker 24
18:53
That your company offered, right? You're so again we represent our organization represents about 15 companies offering this service. There, there are consumers are responsible, I think similar to an ATM as as the representative mentioned earlier, similar to other services where you can access your funds. There is an aspect where consumers who are going to pay to access that funding earlier if they choose to. I got
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
19:12
you and follow up um. You know, when
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
19:16
I, when I do the payroll, there's certain benefits that I have to base off of their gross income. Does this Affect that? Is there any part
of their retirement benefit or benefits that are based off of their gross earnings
Speaker 43
19:31
that this would. caused to deteriorate. Thank you, Chairman Maddox and Representative for the question. So daily pay, as I mentioned is an employer integrated, so that means we plug in directly with the payroll system, um, so we integrate with kind of any any digital payroll system of an employer provides. We check payroll 4 times a day and the in our app, the employee can see their net wages, and that includes any withholdings, any garnishments, anything else, so the amount they see is
accessible is only net wages less any withholdings, and so it doesn't affect anything on the payroll side that would be taken out for another. Benefit or service. Perfect,
thank you. Representative Excuse me, Representative Ferguson, you were recognized for
Representative Kenneth B. Ferguson
Unverified
20:10
a question. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chair. I got 22 quick questions. One question is for the gentleman at the table. Uh, so the services your company offer you guys deal with financial institutions primarily. Chairman Maddox and Representative, thank you for
Speaker 41
20:26
the question. So we contract at daily pay
Speaker 43
20:28
with employers, and we have partnerships with multiple national and international banks to provide financing, support and commercial partnerships, so we do have institutional finance partnerships, but the people who we contract with to provide our services to employees, our employers, and my
Representative Kenneth B. Ferguson
Unverified
20:42
other questions Representative Ray, some time ago when my grandkids were young, I had a custodial account for them with my credit union, and so when my I,
I got a grant the child. She's in college, so she got
smart, so she opened up a chime account, so I couldn't see what was going on with the custodial account that uh that me and her have together that she runs, but in that China accounts since she's now working. Uh, she gets her paycheck two days early. So there would be a fee every time she got her paycheck two days early, but it was my understanding of the child, there's no fee, so. Am I looking at that correct or am I wrong about that?
Representative David Ray
Unverified
21:29
I don't know. I, I don't know. I'm not very familiar with chime specifically, but I think, I think they can. try to answer your question for
Speaker 24
21:37
you. I can't, I don't want to speak for them specifically, but generally if you plan this out in advance and you know what certain bills coming at a certain point or if you're arbitrarily supposed to get paid on the 15th, but you want to get paid on the 13th. You can utilize nearly every company is offering a free option that will enable you that absolutely for free, um, it's really a question, the only time you're going to pay a fee is when My tire blew out and I have to go straight now or I don't have
gas and I don't have cash and I have to go straight to the gas pump. I need access to that money now, so you're going to pay a small fee with that, but generally 2 days in advance or 3
Speaker 65
22:11
days in advance and you're planning it that way, you can absolutely get it for free. OK, so representative Ray,
Speaker 44
22:18
this bill would not affect 2 days in advance or No, and it would help
Representative David Ray
Unverified
22:22
give employees the ability to more or less select their own payday. Like if they have substantial bills for childcare or their
utility bill or something that they know comes on a certain day of the month, each, each certain day of the month, every month, they could, they could schedule their, uh, some of their earnings that they've already accrued for that month
Speaker 19
22:42
or for that pay period, uh, to transfer over to help
Representative Kenneth B. Ferguson
Unverified
22:46
cover those bills, so only if they decided at a certain moment that they wanted access to their paycheck with this fee kick in. If they wanted it,
Speaker 24
22:55
it, yeah, sorry. Thank you, Representative. Yes, and again, that's only if they wanted it
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
23:01
instantly, meaning they could wait a day or two more times than not, it's free. OK, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Representative Ladyman, for her question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm not sure how to frame this
question, but Uh, I'm thinking, I mean, could you get addicted to this? What if I got my paycheck today and then tomorrow I'll ask for my next paycheck and I get in too deep and you understand, I mean, can you get addicted to this and get in too deep to get out? Is there a limit?
Speaker 43
23:33
Thank you, Chairman and Representative for the question. So at daily pay we've done a significant amount of research into our users and what we see is that with high frequency users who are using this kind of regularly for a period of time, that decreases significantly over 4 weeks, about 80%, and after 12 weeks and 96% decrease in use. So what we see people doing is using this product to get out of a cycle of debt and then they're able to manage their finances as needed, so frequency typically declines over time rather than kind of ramping.
Speaker 24
24:03
up to where it's repeatedly highly used. I would just add Representative, thank you. I would just add one other pieces that sort of. The idea here is it's a cycle of of. Out of getting out of debt in that, I think what was one of the big aspects of the product is it's non-recourse in that if consumers find they're unable to pay it back and come to their paycheck, they need access to the full paycheck. You don't have to pay it back. It's as simple as going inside the app or or being in touch with your earned wage provider to stop and halt the payment, very different
than debt in that there is no collection of any time. It won't impact your credit score, and so you could find yourself unable to pay this product back. And you wouldn't have to, you wouldn't be able to use it again, obviously, but you wouldn't have to pay it back and there'd be no cycle of debt. Thank you Representative Perry. Thank
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
24:56
you Mr. Chairman. This is a question for the gentleman at the end, but you
mentioned, uh, because as far as financing, this is backed by national and international companies. What countries do you do business with? Thank you
Speaker 41
25:13
for the question, Chairman Maddox and Representatives. So currently daily pays in all 50 states in the United States we have operations
Speaker 43
25:19
in the United Kingdom, but our services, our core services are provided in the United States and we do not contract with or provide services outside of those regions I mentioned.
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
25:30
OK, so as far as the financing, the funding for the companies,
Speaker 43
25:35
it doesn't come from other international sources. That would be correct. We have a credit facility with Barclays. Um, these are international companies, but these are
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
25:44
companies that are well known household names. OK, all right,
thank you. Representative Wootton, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, I like your bill. I like the thought process, but I want to follow up on what Representative Ladyman mentioned, and, and you may have covered it, and I may have missed it, but is there a
cap? I mean, can they borrow one day or pull forward one day and then 2 days later, pull another paycheck forward or how, how does, uh, it could become addictive and they find themselves in a deeper hole than they are that they had to pull forward. So I'll say on
Representative David Ray
Unverified
26:27
a very top line level, you can't access wages that you've not already earned. So, um, but I'll, I'll let them follow up with more specificity. Thank you, Chairman Maddox and
Speaker 43
26:39
Representative for the question. That's exactly right. So like I mentioned earlier, daily pay integrates with payroll, and we run payroll 4 times a day, so we know when someone goes home early from a shift or picks up. an extra shift and know their actual net wages that are up to date, what they have actually earned, and an employee can never access more than they've earned, so the first Monday of a pay period if you've only worked a couple of hours, you're not going and getting 500 unless you're very well paid, whatever job that is, I would
Andrew Welch
Unverified
27:05
need, but you can only access up to what you have already earned at the time you are accessing the
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
27:11
funds. OK, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Representative Ferguson,
Representative Kenneth B. Ferguson
Unverified
27:18
you're back in the queue. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think my question was answered. I'm not sure, uh, in the follow-up question, Representative Leeman asked and then Representative Wooden asked, yeah, yeah, I got these grandchildren here, but my grandson, he figured out a way with PayPal, but he ended up $130 in debt. He didn't tell his mama. He told his granddad. And so I bailed them out. Um
Speaker 65
27:45
So, but now I'm trying to figure out how he got $130 but he, he ain't got $130 paycheck. So there's no cap. But it's got to be something because he went beyond. That you know
Representative Kenneth B. Ferguson
Unverified
27:59
and then I kind of told them I said, hey, don't do this no more now. Uh, by the 2nd or 3rd time, But so come back to that cap again. I can't speak to the products he
Speaker 24
28:16
used, um, I can tell you that in this product with earned wage access, you can't get ahead of yourself because you can't take a nickel more than you've already earned to date, and so it's why we're we we we talk about this as the opposite of debt. It's, it's sort of what most people will go to when they don't want to use a credit card or go to a pawn shop or pay the loan or use another service. My guess is the product he used was some form of debt, PayPal. I can't speak again, I can't speak for them. I can say that anybody who's offering
responsible earned wage access is not allowing anybody past the penny or the nickel that
Representative Kenneth B. Ferguson
Unverified
28:53
they've already earned. Representative Ray, I guess, I guess this bill maybe could help since there's no
Chair
Unverified
28:59
regulations. Yeah, that's absolutely right. So these, these products
Representative David Ray
Unverified
29:02
exist in all 50 states right now. Um, there is a hand there there are a handful of states that have adopted, um, some general consumer protection requirements and guidelines like are contained in this bill. And then
this year, there's a lot of states that are considering, you know, probably half the states in the country are considering adding something very similar to this. If we opted not to pass this bill or something. similar, then what would happen is we would just go 2 more years without any guidelines, rules for the road, or consumer protections in place. This hypothetical question, you think
Representative Kenneth B. Ferguson
Unverified
29:39
this bill would kind of help, uh, my grandson not to get in debt with PayPal again. I hope so.
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
29:50
Thank you, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Representative McGrew, you're right. Thank you, Chairman, and I'm gonna say that's the way that I view this bill, that it is adding legislation that will help, help with this. I see it as a positive thing. A curious question, I'm assuming that y'all represent a huge number of employees. Do you know what percentage of those employees access and use
Speaker 41
30:12
this? Thank you for the question, Chairman Maddox and Representatives. So at daily pay in Arkansas we have about 54,000 eligible employees last year
Speaker 43
30:21
that could have used this about 38,000 were enrolled, and of those, about half of the people who use our app access their wages, and the other half just use it to track their wages, so we see people liking to see that number go up as they work more and that's why our
Speaker 41
30:35
research shows that employees pick up 3 times more shifts when they use daily pay because they're getting that gratification seeing their hard
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
30:42
work pay off. So this, this also enables the employee to track how much they're making and keep up that it serves them that way also. Thank you for the question.
Speaker 43
30:52
Absolutely. We run payroll and in our app employees who use daily pay can see exactly how much
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
31:03
they've earned to date. Represent Perry, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm, I'm seeing how word this question. So you get, there is a limit on the amount. That a person or an employee could get extended out to, so, and it's one
paycheck or two paychecks. Yeah, no, it would be what they've earned for that pay
Representative David Ray
Unverified
31:24
period. So let's say you got paid on a biweekly basis. You get paid on the 15th and the 30th. If if it were the 12th day of
Speaker 33
31:33
the month, you could access 12 days' worth of wages. That would
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
31:38
be the limit. And an employer contracts with y'all, so if that employee doesn't make it back to work due to an accident or a fatal accident. Is the company liable for The amount or is that just
Speaker 41
31:54
Of No loss of doing business. Thank you for the question. So in daily pay and with any other earned wage access product and what this bill actually does is
Speaker 43
32:06
ensure that it's a non-recourse product. So if there's a failure to settle outstanding proceeds, the only recourse there is for a consumer to not use the app anymore, um, and then, you know, the amounts are settled with the employer. So in other words, there any
Representative David Ray
Unverified
32:25
risk is on the earned wage provider, not on the, not
Representative Dwight Tosh
Unverified
32:32
on the consumer. Re, Represent Tosh, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. You keep saying over and over the uh The amount earned. I'm just curious as to how much they could actually is that before or after taxes because, you know, they earn all of that, but then by the time the taxes, so is it before or after? Thank you
Speaker 41
32:51
for the question, Chairman Maddox and Representative. The amount that
Speaker 43
32:55
someone can access in daily pay is only up to their earned wages, less any withholding, so taxes are taken out, retirement is taken out, any other medical benefits are taken out of the amount that's accessed.
Representative Dwight Tosh
Unverified
33:06
OK, well that had not been brought up and I was really curious about that, so obviously it makes sense. Thanks.
Thank you, Representative Steinel, who recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. How real time is this? I mean, this is something that I
can't clock out at 5 and then say, boop boop boop. All right, here's my beer
money, right? I mean, we're talking about, you know, we're gonna take,
you know, some time to process payroll, etc. etc. right? Thank you for the question, Chairman and vice chair. The payroll at daily
Speaker 43
33:35
pay we run 4 times a day, so if it's, you know, within a few minutes of that 3rd or 4th time we run payroll, it's pretty up to date, so it's almost real time, um, so 4 times a day we're updating our system, so if you know we run payroll halfway through your shift and you're still working and it's up to date, great. If you leave early and we update it
again the second time of the day. We know you left early
Speaker 24
33:59
and it's actual wages, and I would just, I love the question and thank you so much because it, it highlights exactly what We're doing with innovation in financial services. There was once a time where it was difficult to run payroll and how do you track it? How do you run it, and how do you get the check? and how does the consumer access the funds. That's exactly the benefit of earned wage access. All of our companies are providing consumers and workers their money in real time, so they don't have gas in their car, they can, the money they earned that day, they can get it instantly, uh, uh, deposited
into their bank account and go straight to the gas station and not have to worry about how am I gonna get that $20 or $30
so I can get gas to come back to work tomorrow. So then the answer is it's almost real time to wear as soon as you clock
out, you can access those funds. Thank you for
Representative David Ray
Unverified
34:44
the question. Thank you. And I would just add, you know, this is one of the benefits that a lot of, a lot of gig workers especially see in, you know, driving for a rideshare company, for example, because they can work a shift and then immediately get paid, and they
don't have to wait the two weeks or the, you know, 30 days they would typically wait to get paid at their normal
job. Thank you, Reverend Bray. Any further questions about the committee? seeing none, um, is there anyone in the audience who would like to speak against this bill. OK. Anyone else who'd like to speak for this bill? Excuse me, Representative Ray, you are recognized a close for
Representative David Ray
Unverified
35:23
your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I appreciate all the questions and the discussion, um, as I
mentioned, this bill just lays out some of the, the rules for the road and provide some, some substantive but but um basic consumer protections in the space and um I appreciate your consideration today and would love to have a motion and a good vote. OK. Representative Laman, you're recognized. We
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
35:48
have a motion to pass by Representative Ladyman. That Thank you. We have a motion do pass as amended by Representative Ladyman, all in favor say aye. Any of both say
no. Congratulations, Ray, you've passed your bill. Thank you, committee. Reps some gramli. Would you like to present your bill? members
Speaker 116
36:12
this is HB 1620. Represent Grandma, just introduce yourself and you may
Representative Zack Gramlich
Unverified
36:31
proceed with your testimony. Representative Zach Gramlich, District 50 Fort Smith. Um, we're looking at House Bill 1620 today, um. What this does is it accomplishes a couple of issues that we have with our PBMs, one of which is we don't get timely payments, um, I have heard of weights from our PBN reimbursements is as long as 150 days, and you know our pharmacies are having to carry that just debt until they get reimbursed. And so what this will do is require
reimbursements to be made within 7 to 14 days with electronic transcripts and within 30 days with paper transcripts or paper scripts or Claims, excuse me. I also defines what a clean claim is, how claims can be, you know, audited and stuff like that, uh, talks about also there's a penalty for companies if they don't reimburse within the time of 12% per month. It also applies equal reimbursement timelines for manufacturers. Um, Helps define some of our definitions in the current um
Audit definitions for the insurance department uh audit prepayment of audit prescription validation requests, and randomly select random selection. There's an issue with random selection where it just so happens that it's always the same, very, very expensive medications that are audited and it's not truly a random audit and so they're just making that. Just a general, make sure everything is audited, um. And then it also updates some definitions with uh and requires Medicaid to be subject to the
same, the same uh rules and then not exempt which they've already voluntarily been following
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
38:14
for the past few years. With that, I'll
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
38:20
try to answer a few questions. Thank you, Reverend Gramlich. Any questions from the committee? you'd. And in conversation with my pharmacists, they're telling me that Medicaid and Medicaid, Medicare pay 7 days on Medicaid and 14 days and it may be 6
Representative Zack Gramlich
Unverified
38:38
weeks before PBMs pay. Is that correct? Yeah, that's exactly right. I've I've spoke with some pharmacists who um this is with uh GLP ones which are weight loss diabetes drugs, um, that they have been waiting for payment for months, um, and they've actually some have chosen to stop filling those prescriptions because they just can't, they just can't hold that debt for that long. Um, so yeah, this is gonna, so Medicaid and Medicare are doing their, doing the right thing and we're going to continue. They've been doing it voluntarily, so we're just going to say, yeah, keep
doing what you're doing, great job. But we're gonna be holding these PBMs so that uh our pharmacies can, you know, follow up, get timely reimbursement and
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
39:17
also um Cash flow is very important to them and, and they operate on a closed basis because of the fact that They have to purchase the drugs ahead of time and then for customers to be able to be serviced like they're, you know, like they want to service them.
So it is critical that they get this cash quickly from the standpoint of being able to pay. Absolutely, I agree. I'm being able to provide service. Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Any further
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
39:57
represent light in ingest. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, Representative,
uh, what, what's the penalty if they don't comply and how do we enforce it.
Representative Zack Gramlich
Unverified
40:13
Uh, it's a 12% um interest per month for late late payment on clean claims, and there's already a similar uh the insurance department argues similar stuff for medical claims, so probably the same mechanism.
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
40:30
Yeah. Thank you, Representative Leman. Represent Allen, you're
Representative David Ray
Unverified
40:33
recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's my understanding that some of these PBMs, they just roll on and pay the penalty and just keep going
Representative Zack Gramlich
Unverified
40:44
because they're making so much money. Is that correct? I, I mean, uh, that may be true, um. That may be true. I'm sure there's some who care
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
41:03
more than others, but Any further questions about the committee? Yeah Represent wouldn't you recognize it? didn't Did we have a Federal law? that covers this or what was it attempted before Congress and it
failed or I'm wholly ignorant to that. I can invite someone to the table who might know that answer. I thought representative Berryman, uh, Barry. Marion Barry years ago that ran something before. I don't know the answer to that question, thank you. Thank you. Thank you,
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
41:32
Representative Wooden. Any further questions about the committee? OK, seeing none, is there
anyone in the audience who'd like to speak against this bill. Is there anyone in the answer
you'd like to speak for this bill. Seeing
Representative Zack Gramlich
Unverified
41:49
no one representing Graham like you recognize the clothes for your bill. Thank you. I appreciate your consideration. I make a motion to pass. We have a motion to pass. All in favor say aye.
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
42:00
Any pose say no. Congratulations, you have passed your bill. Thank you, Mr.
Chair. Thank you, committee. Representative Bentley, would you like to present your bill? To
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
42:13
amendments. I believe we I believe there are amendments
to this and staff will be passing out
Speaker 71
42:25
the amendments, members. This Oh It members, this is HP 1583 and there are amendments being passed out. Yeah. Representative Bentley, whenever you are ready, you're recognized to proceed with your amendments. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you,
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
42:41
uh, committee. This, the amendments that I'm bringing for you today are some amendments that we've agreed to with DHS, um, really want their full
support of this bill, and so they brought forth some amendments to me yesterday, um, there are some definitions in this bill that they do not align with their past system and so we're removing them from the uh original definition of a benefit plan and we're adding a waiver for them with the 2nd Amendment. So the 1st Amendment removes them from uh the definition of a benefit payer and then the 2nd Amendment. we have here, ask them to apply for a waiver to put these patients into the past.
And I said definition. We can take the First Amendment. Which is uh 329 and uh It starts out with health benefit plans, so it removes Medicaid from the definition on that page of what a health benefit plan is. That's what the First Amendment does.
Representative Les Warren
Unverified
43:35
OK. Thank you, Representative Malley. We have a motion to
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
43:39
adopt motion to adopt the First Amendments made by Representative Ladyman, all in favor say aye. Any opposed say no. Representative Bentley, proceed with your 2nd
Representative Carol Dalby
Unverified
43:49
Amendment, please. Thank you. So the 2nd Amendment will ask DHS to apply for a waiver to add this population to existing programs to allow them to get the benefits
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
43:59
that we're talking about today. OK, thank you. Representative Ladyman has made a motion to adopt the Second Amendment. All in favor say aye. Any opposed say no. Reverend Billy, you're recognized to present your bill
Speaker 71
44:08
as amended. Thank you, and I apologize for
Representative Carol Dalby
Unverified
44:11
the late amendments to the bill, but again, we want to get the buy-in from DHS on this. I think it's very important. So, um, I would
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
44:20
like to chair, bring some expert testment up here to help present this
bill, Dr. Danny Burcher. Absolutely, sir, just introduce yourself and who you're with
Uh Doctor
Unverified
44:34
when you get to the table. Thank you, sir. My name is uh Doctor Danny Burcher. Um, I am employed at UAMS and I the director of the brain injury program at UAMS. We're the lead brain injury program in the state of Arkansas.
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
44:51
Thank you, Chairman. Thank you committee. Um, 8 years ago, I received a horrible phone call on Mother's Day, a phone call that
I'll never forget from the chaplain at UMS that my son had been in a horrible car wreck and he'd been airlifted to UAS um at that point. I didn't know if my son was going to survive or not, but thank God he did. He had a serious neck. Fractures and was in racture for quite some time, and I was afraid at that point he had brain injury, but thankfully he did not. Unfortunately, many families in Arkansas are not so lucky. Their children have some serious brain injury. So today we're bringing to you, um,
A bill that will allow patients to get the care that they need to get the best possible outcome and not have arbitrary timelines set by insurance company that cuts that treatment off early and denies some of the ability to get the most possible, the best outcomes they possibly could. So in the end this bill will really will save us money because these patients will get the best possible care and get the best possible outcome. I know a lot of you will look at um somebody that has a stroke. We had a golden arrow if they can get treatment real quickly and they get the medication they need to have the best possible. Outcome. I think this is really
similar to that. We want to make sure that our patients get the best possible outcome if they can get the best possible treatment, then the outcome and end will be better and there'll be less money that will have to be spent on them, so this is something they've been wanting to do for quite some time and uh we'll get into the weeds with Dr. Burcher much more than I can on this bill, so I'm gonna let him talk about why we need to have this in Arkansas, and again this was will bring some more later, but other states that have
Uh Doctor
Unverified
46:20
already done it. Right. Um, first, I'd like to state that I need to make it
really clear that UMS has not sponsoring this bill and not supporting this bill. They're neutral on this bill, but I am speaking to the science that we are aware of and within the community. Let me say this I'm an old paramedic, and so you know, being in the rehabilitation space is kind of a new was a new game to me about 6 years ago, and I really didn't quite understand it, but it did. take very long for me to understand that it was very similar to the golden hour. Have y'all heard of that, the golden
hour. You have somebody that is injured really bad. They need to get to a trauma surgeon really, really fast. There is a very close correlate to this with brain injury and rehabilitation. Of course, brain injury needs the trauma surgeon, but they need rehabilitation that's robust and intense and early. Now that doesn't mean that just Because you get that intense rehabilitation that they're going to recover and they're going to be great and the brain
is a very complicated organ, but the idea is just like Representative Bentley said, this is optimizing outcomes so people can go back and be productive members of the community. Many of them can work. There's a significant percentage that can't, but we do know that that's there and that's available. I've also got a statement that I thought was very enlightening. I am not a doctor in that specific space, but a neuropsychologist Dr. Crystal Fulle has worked at UMS
very intensely with a lot of these folks, and again this is not just UAMS. This is a statewide system we see encompass. We see all kinds of rehabilitation facilities, Mercy in Northwest Arkansas. They have rehab facilities, and they need to be able to deliver this care to optimize outcomes. These are doctor. full statements. She had quite a bit that she wanted to state, but she said reducing limits on rehabilitation increases patient
ability to engage more fully and independently. In activities of daily living and reducing the need for in-home healthcare services, caregivers, and family caregiver burden. One of the most debilitating symptoms followed following TBI or traumatic brain injury are cognitive psychological and behavioral changes, deficits. It's called the invisible symptoms initial rehabilitation helps support only so much progress thereafter patients do
need to return to home in their communities, and eventually there are problems that do occur later on. Community reintegration is the gold standard for rehabilitation with the most robust out. outcomes if available, these programs should be offered to all acquired brain injury patients who are discharged from the hospital who are not independent with their activities of daily living and uh, the last statement that she has, thank you for listening through all this because this really is important stuff.
Ultimately every brain injury is unique because we're all unique individuals while we can share common symptoms, memory, anxiety, half paralysis executive dysfunction, how that looks on each person like in life is different, capping the amount of rehab and duration is directly related to the amount of recovery, a single person can achieve, so if you cap it too much, you can have optimal outcomes, allowing rehab
to fit patients presentation, severity of symptoms, and when the symptoms interfere with the daily life, trying to get a job again. then after a year or two attempting to return to drive allows for the fullest recovery possible. You can't take a chronic condition and put limits on what treatment should look like, treatment needs to be flexible. And the last thing that I'll say is we have this is happy brain injury Awareness Month. So March is brain injury
Awareness Month. This is nationwide and we adopted that in Arkansas Governor Governor. did sign this, but the one thing that I would like to point out here, we don't know the exact number, but we believe that there's about an estimation by CDC numbers are there are about 46,640 patients in across the state that have chronic problems with traumatic brain acquired brain injury, traumatic brain injury is one of those
particular big categories, and we do have some people that came here. We had one family that had to leave because They had to get clinical care. They had to get ongoing clinical care, so
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
51:22
that's um. Thank you. So before we take questions, I'll just quickly say this is a bill drafted after they've done in Texas and the amount of premium increases has been pennies on the dollar. They're very small increase they've seen, if any at all. So what we're seeing is actually good patient outcomes. We can't arbitrarily set a time
like we would for the broken arm or a broken leg. This is a brain and every brain is different. Every brain is unique, so we're just, all we're asking is that we can get the the therapy that's needed to get the most, the best possible outcome for these patients because they are so buried in every injury is different. So with that we have
to take questions from committee. Thank you, Representative Lee. Representative Eaves, you recognized for her question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So just want to make sure
Representative Les D. Eaves
Unverified
52:01
I'm reading it right. This would apply to all the individual healthcare plans, group plans, the marketplace, but not EBD. Correct.
Representative Carol Dalby
Unverified
52:12
Representative Dalby, he recognized. Thank you Mr. Chair. Representative Bentley, I just heard you say, you know, at least in Texas it was pennies on the dollar. Has there been any, I mean, Texas is a much bigger state, uh, you know, the cost is going to be spread out, I mean. One city is bigger than this whole state of Arkansas. So, uh, have we, I, I, I think it's a good thing. I'm not against the bill, but I'm just curious as to what it's going to increase
insurance costs for everyday for everybody across the board because it's a mandate and have, have you done any look into what that might be in the state of Arkansas? Not here in the city I can
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
52:53
say that has really not really shown any increase because again, we're getting optimal outcomes. So in the end of the day, actually it's costing less. So if you think about a patient that instead of being homebound instead of having to have home health care is actually able to take care of themselves. At the end of the day, it's actually lowering costs and that's what they're seeing in Texas they aren't really seeing any increase because the outcomes are so much better, so we're
investing some more on the upfront, but at the end of the day, we're having less costs in the end because those patients can take care of themselves, or if we didn't get the treatment that really would bring them to. Optimal care, they would have much more cost
Representative Carol Dalby
Unverified
53:28
in the end if that makes sense to you, and I understand that I and I guess and I'm not disagreeing with you that the outcome is the important thing and to get people back home or or what have you. I'm not disagreeing at all with that, but my question is, did you consider the possibility as that this would be uh
optional coverage that someone could. could take as opposed to making it a a mandatory, uh, part of the insurance policy because if I, I read your bill and it appears that whether you're an insurance company doing business. Located in the state of Arkansas or if those of us who may live on the outer edges of the state have out of state companies or something like that. So, uh, did you consider why the benefits or the cost is to making this, uh,
an optional coverage that someone could pick up and pay. Uh could you just talk about your thought process and by making it mandatory as opposed to optional. I
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
54:25
think the best because we don't want insurance company this arbitrary setting a date which they are now, where there's not any flexibility, so wanting to give flexibility. So it may or may not increase the time that they're getting treatment. We're just saying that we need the provider, the person that's doing the care to make the decision and when that patient has had the amount of therapy that will get the best outcome. So right now it's an arbitrary number, so we're just actually
asking for the insurance company to put in rules to make it flexible, so the, the, uh, care given is set by the provider and not by the insurance company, just saying like if you have a broken arm, you get so many weeks of treatment, whatever, you get so much. PT. So again, I don't see a
Representative Carol Dalby
Unverified
55:04
way to make it, uh, optional at this point, so just like you do on any insurance like on an insurance policy, you may take a a cancer policy out, or you may take, you know, additional coverage out is what I was referring to and not
necessarily, you know, the time limits. I was just asking, I'm just curious, did you weigh the pros and cons to, to that as opposed to making it mandatory. That, that was my question. I,
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
55:29
I have. not. I just went by what, uh, the experts in the field thought this was the best route to go.
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
55:40
And so that's what I went with. Thank you. Thank you, Representative Wooton. Did you have a question? Yes, Mr. Chairman. Representative Bentley, did y'all consider Accident policies, uh, somewhat,
you, you know, like your son was in an automobile accident. Did, did Would in coverage. For an automobile accident, wouldn't the, uh, people involved in the accident have insurance to cover up to a given amount or something, uh, from a, from an accident standpoint, you know, when you have a uh from a, from an accident standpoint, you know, when you have the accident that happened at work. Just from personal experience,
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
56:21
you know, each each insurance company is going to get what they can, right? So, um, at first year accident is gonna kick in, then your own personal, so it's just gonna be like any other time that you have an accident when I have a wreck, the, uh, first person hit is based on the rules like the person that hit me or whatever is going to hit their insurance first, and that hit mine. So I don't
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
56:40
think it's not going to change that at all and how we apply for any any well I'm it's along with the representative Daley's, uh, question. Did, did you consider kicking in
the, the health insurance kicks in at a certain point when it exceeds the insurance coverage. Of, of, of an accident. I think we just left it
Representative Carol Dalby
Unverified
57:01
up for the insurance department to set up the
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
57:04
rules as they have, so that's not a detailer put in there, so I don't think you, you anticipate having a brain injury at all. It's just part of your insurance. When we're driving down the road, no one expects or you're working, you have no idea when you might have a brain injury, so I'm way to make it an optional. Well, I don't mean optional for
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
57:24
the insurance coverage. I mean, what I'm, what I'm trying to say, and I'm not doing a very good job of it. is insurance coverage of automobile insurance pays a certain amount of healthcare uh benefits relative to the coverage that the policyholder has. In other words, if you're, if you're at fault in the accident and another person has an acquired injury, does, do
they not receive coverage from insurance in that case. And, and, and, and what I'm asking is, did you consider that this would be required for health coverage to kick in whenever the insurance from the other company reached its level of of capping the word capped.
Uh Doctor
Unverified
58:27
I can't address the cap, but I can't address. We've seen problems whenever there's a disputed claim on an accident that the different parties of the insurance company will stand back and then the patient doesn't get rehabilitation because nobody wants to pay for it. We've seen that as
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
58:45
a problem. OK, well, if, what I'm, what I'm, I understand that, but the same thing could happen with healthcare insurance too, could it not? I mean, would they not
Require a given documentation relative to the injury. What I'm asking the question is, I'm not saying not to pay. I'm saying that when the level reaches that of the insurance coverage from the accident insurance. When it reaches a certain level, if it cuts off, then mandate that the help, if I have a health policy that it kicks in to not a question about whether they need uh extensive
rehabilitation or what. Now, not involving any of that, but just saying that this goes along with what spreads it out over more people and more companies rather than just one. Is that, am I making sense or do you understand what I'm saying. Yeah, I just, I don't,
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
59:51
I don't see a question in there, so
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
59:54
I understand what you're saying but the question is, did you consider that approach to the
coverage that, that if they have other insurance options available to them. That those expire or reach a cap or reach a level that they won't pay anymore, then the healthcare kicks in. I don't think this prevents that or changes that we're just saying
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
1:00:17
that some people don't, uh, are there and I looking here for personal testament. Some people are being cut off. They're not getting the treatment they need. So this is saying that we are going to cover traumatic brain injury. We're going to get the care that they need. So it doesn't really
address if there's a cap on a certain accident that occurred, it's not going to change that. It's gonna require them to cover the treatment that's necessary and not let insurance company
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
1:00:45
cut it off at an arbitrary date and not look at patient outcome. Well, this says, actually insurance policy that they have for 50,000 or $100,000 coverage. And when you reach that level, then they, they, they don't pay anymore, and then the healthcare policy would pick it up and kick in. That way
you're spreading the coverage above A and above insurance company B from a healthcare standpoint. Because I know that it's costly, and I'm not questioning the, the need to have the coverage. I'm just questioning how we go about acquiring that payment. I don't, I don't have an accurate answer for you on that. I don't think I
Speaker 139
1:01:25
don't think it is. Thank you, Representer and I think we've,
Representative Les Warren
Unverified
1:01:28
I think you and Reginald Dalby have kind of touched on the same issue. So, um, let's move on. Representative Aman, you have a question.
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
1:01:38
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chairman. You may have answered this, sir. I don't know, but, uh, historically,
historical data, uh, do you know how many people might be covered by this? I mean, what kind of population
Speaker 156
1:01:52
are we talking about? I can give you all I
Uh Doctor
Unverified
1:01:56
can give you is a snapshot on the TBI, the traumatic brain injury registry, it is statewide and so I'd say it's pretty accurate on the intake of those really serious ones that take up a lot
of, you know, healthcare costs. Uh, we get about 600 referrals every year and um and it, it breaks down a little bit from there because there's there's about. 30 to 40% that do not survive to discharge from a hospital, so they may make it up to ICU and then uh then it kind of comes around to about one person a day that will actually survive. And so some of those several of
those will go to rehabilitation, so probably around 300 for that acute. There will still be some others that may not be in our registry that might be out there, but that's your kind. have your input on an annual basis if that gives you an idea. Thank you. Representative Baker, you recognize for a question. Thank you,
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
1:03:00
Mr. Chair, and to piggyback a little bit off of Representative Wooten and Representative Dalby's concerns and you guys feel free to correct me and I'll probably end this with the wouldn't you agree, but um it's my
understanding that you guys have only have the capacity
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
1:03:14
to build medical insurance. Is that correct? You can't bill State Farm. You can't bill Allstate. And so the reason that this is arranged this way is that they need to submit those claims for their costs to the medical benefit. However, that medical benefit is built based off deductibles and however that individual claim exists. Then goes To where you're referring to that second level, so they don't have the ability to start on the, I guess, motor vehicle insurance in and work backwards because they can't build those
claims that that direction. And uh I would say that as far
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
1:03:47
as optional, I mean currently it already is optional, right? And that, and that this problem isn't getting solved with the option. Great. OK. That's, that's the reason for
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
1:03:58
the bill. Thank you. Thank ribs and maker. Any further questions about the committee? OK, then. Thank you for your
Representative Carol Dalby
Unverified
1:04:05
testimony. Thank you. We have some people here who want to speak
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
1:04:08
for the bill, if that's OK. Yes, let me call for, excuse me. I like to speak against this bill.
seeing no one, The first person we have signed up is Kristin Heather, I, I'm going to be saying that correctly, but, OK, please go to the end of the table and introduce yourself, and, um, bring whomever you'd like and commit with your testimony, please. Is this what I speak into? Yes, just make sure that it is
Speaker 166
1:04:49
turned on. Yes, ma'am. OK. OK. Um, I'm Kristen Heather. This is my son Lawson Heather, um, November of 2020, he suffered a traumatic brain injury from a car accident. In a way it was a blessing that he was 17 because the insurance covered him better than if he had been 19, uh, so it's horrible as it was, he spent 3 months at Children's Hospital. 30 days at Baptist rehab and then we moved over to Timber Ridge, uh.
Residential rehab where we awaited our insurance the day we had to leave Baptist. We still didn't know if we were going to be covered, but I drove him over there by myself. Um, he couldn't talk, he couldn't walk on his own and dropped him off, which was very hard after 4 months of staying at the hospital with them. But, uh, we just on faith stayed there and we raised money. Thankfully, we had an organization, Miracles for Mary, where they raised funds for us to pay cash to stay there until
we got approval and we did not get approval. So then we were able to apply for um Medicaid, so SSI, and because of his age that it was a good he hadn't turned 18 yet. We got that and thankfully retroactively it did pay for him, and he spent 9 months there, which was extremely beneficial. I don't think he could have gotten as far as he did without that time there, um, and again, so my, his best friend from elementary school had a brain injury 2 months, I
mean 2 years later, and that they'll be speaking. And he was older at that point. And our stories did not, I kept telling her, you can get this, you can, no, we can't, no we can't. So there is a big gap and he's still getting care and even with Medicaid, we are still struggling to get him to get OT, PT, and speech, which he needs because there's been some differences and changes in his, um, symptoms based on the long standing effects of his brain injury. So we've paid out probably $40,000 in in private.
Expenses on this, thankfully because we had people who raised money for us. We didn't have that money ourselves. So that is, uh, of course it would have been wonderful to have an open-ended as much therapy as you need to get him to be a long, I mean a contributable citizen. And to live a good life and uh have independence and all those things which he lives with us. He does work a job, he can't drive yet and thankfully he has that possibility. So, that's our story as far as insurance was
concerned in our Yeah, I, he's still getting treatment today. He's getting treatment at UMS for something that he's still dealing with, but thankfully that is covered this time, so, but Medicaid is one. We don't have that private insurance anymore, and we were small business owners and had our individual insurance. And in many ways, it was great, but again, when it came to the rehab and I'm like, how could you throw him out there? There's no way we can care for him at home. We could not have cared for him at home. If we hadn't gone to that um. To, um, timber Ridge, as hard as
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
1:07:56
it was to leave him there. There's no way. So our story. Thank you. Excuse me, thank you for your testimony. There's any
Speaker 71
1:08:13
questions. OK. Saying that, thank you so much for your testimony. I believe the
next person signed up are Brett and Catherine McKnight. If you would just go to the end of the table and introduce yourselves and you can proceed with your testimony.
Speaker 172
1:08:34
Hello, I'm Brett McKnight. Sorry. Hello, I'm Brett
Speaker 174
1:08:46
McKnight. Now press your button. I'm Catherine McKnight. On February 26, uh 20202. Our son was in a Hit, hit by a car, traumatic brain injury and uh. Fayetteville and, you know, it was that dreaded call that was mentioned by this young lady here, uh,
You know, you got to get to pay a bill immediately and uh He had Uh was unresponsive on that scene, you know, they pronounce the Police saw everything in our this story has been nothing but miraculous. But uh we did have, he, he went to Washington Regional. was there for at least a month, you know, we. I, I didn't work for that month on a small company and, and we stayed there with him and then his mother did the same.
And then we ended up in Baptist, and we kept having trouble with the insurances. He was over the age
Speaker 176
1:09:44
of uh the uh just turned 19 at the accident. And so, Medicaid was saying that he wasn't
Speaker 178
1:09:49
a child anymore. He was an adult, but he was still under 100% of our financial care. He'd only been to college for one semester, so. Insurance kept saying he's a, he's not a child. He's now an adult, so he needs to have different insurance and we
Speaker 177
1:10:08
didn't have any private insurance. So, And the uh and that being
Speaker 174
1:10:15
said, we We, I, um, this like I said, this whole thing's been miraculous. I had a friend that knew the right people to call, and we kept jumping back between Medicaid and uh Medicaid don't get Medicaid and Blue Cross. We'd have to be have this at one hospital, we'd have to have that at the other hospital, and the facility, that that was mentioned, Timber Ridge was a very instrumental in in
his quick, quicker recovery than most in the situation that people are in in this traumatic brain injuries, uh. The, uh That you know, our son today is, is going to UCA. He does drive and, and uh when the accident happened, he, he was, you know, was non-responsive, you know, not clinically dead, but he was, he was gone and if they see if the cop hadn't done CPR, he would not be here. And then the ambulance pulled up, they took over, and then the, uh, well, the fireman pulled up and then the ambulance intubated him and,
and then the call was made, uh. The answering something that the other men were talking about with the insurances on the vehicles uh, that stuff is still in litigation and so we've had to, you know, we've depended upon the these insurances that have been available to us, we don't, we haven't received a dime from that wreck and our son's on foot. You know, so, uh, he was, wasn't driving at all. Uh, the, uh, So you can imagine the burden that was put upon us at times,
uh, I think you were out of pocket quite a bit being between the trying to get this insurance to pick up that one to pick up, and we should have never had to navigate so hard, but like I, like I said, it's just been a I can't complain. We've been extremely blessed, but I can see how it's difficult for people that don't have the same outcome that we've had. I've been to a lot of uh caregiver meetings and it's, and it's, it's hard to sit through those things and uh anyway, that's our, my uh Statement upon about the
Speaker 183
1:12:13
insurance. So it does need to be better regulated for uh
Speaker 173
1:12:17
traumatic brain injuries. Well, I think the point that um It's not
Speaker 178
1:12:21
being made a little bit is that. Because people's brains are so individual. The insurance company should not have a right to say, you can have 7 OT appointments. You can have 8 speech appointments. You can have. 12 physical therapy appointments and then you're out. And just be able to kick
somebody out that's doing so well. And our son is now 21 and he's taken a couple of college classes. He's driving, he can eat. We were told he would never walk. Or talk or eat again. And Like he said, we've been blessed that it's somehow it just all got covered, but they did tell us at one point that He could have this many sessions of OT your speech and then Medicaid's done with you. And then we're trying to get on Blue Cross and I think it's just
about the struggle. It's not so much who pays or what happens because like our son was a pedestrian that hit up, got hit by a car. He was not in a car, um, And it's not really about who pays or what it's like, how can an insurance company tell you how many times it's going to take for your person, whoever that is, to actually heal from a tragic brain injury, because every brain is different and every injury is different and Lawson's was different because during surgery, I believe he had a stroke, right, during surgery.
Yeah. And so you don't know like even what's gonna happen at that point after the accident. And these are, you know, our boys are young and healthy and My son was, uh, you know, a baseball scholarship at SAU tech and he will probably not ever play sports again. I don't think, I don't know, but it's I'm happy. Anyway, yeah, we're, we're blessed. We're happy. He's alive and, um, anyway, that's all I have to say because I'm getting emotional. No point in that. Thank you so
Speaker 186
1:14:13
much for your testimony. Any questions from the committee?
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
1:14:17
Good. See you then. Thank you again for your testimony. Thank you. It doesn't appear that
Speaker 26
1:14:27
there's anyone else that I'm sorry I was supposed to sign in. But Go ahead and go to, go to the end of
Speaker 190
1:14:45
the table and introduce yourself and proceed with your testimony. Yep. Um, Tanya Foster, and I'm here
Speaker 191
1:14:49
today representing my daughter, Faith Elizabeth. She's 24 years old. And um About a month after her 20th birthday. She had a head-on car collision. Faith did everything right. She had her seatbelt on. Unfortunately, the collision was so severe and so traumatic that the seatbelt was severed and she was thrown out of the car. And when they got to faith,
They did a paramedics do a thing called the Glasgow Coma score. And hers was 3. And a rock has a Glasgow Coma score of 3. Again, I want to restate what the folks before me said. We've been extremely blessed. We've seen miracles. Our daughter is a miracle. Our neighbor who was a paramedic, was on the scene. Thank God. Um, we were transported first to Baptist in Conway, and then they obviously didn't have, uh, the
resources, so they sent her on to UAMS and we're so grateful for you AMS and what they did to help us. Yes. However, um, as we were nearing the end of our stay at UAMS, they wanted to send us home or to a nursing home. And um That wasn't the right option for our daughter. She still had, um, she still had a respirator and many, many other things. There's no way we could have taken care
of her at home, and if we had taken her home, two things. One is we're 45 minutes from the nearest neuro Health. So if she had any kind of neurological event, which we had no way of knowing what was coming. We, we would have been in trouble. And then the other thing was, um, if we had gone home, we would never have been. accepted into any rehabilitation. Once you've gone home, they're reluctant to accept you into rehab. They want you to come from the hospital to rehab. We had to go to a long-term
acute care hospital. That is not the right place for a young person like Faith. While she was there, um. They did not have the resources to care for her. She did not receive the physical therapy that she should have received. She got drop foot. We, um, Wound up through another blessing, taking a med flight to Craig Hospital, which is one of the top 10 neurohospitals in the United States. It's in Colorado. And um
I don't know how much the med flight costs. I know that the the process was very convoluted, expensive, and nerve-wracking to see if we would get approved. I know that we had to send our policy to the MedFla company, and they had to discern if our policy, if they had a leg to stand on with our policy to ask for the money to Meddflat her to that facility because there was no facility in the state of Arkansas, that could have helped her at that point. She was not awake. was not aware.
Um, she spent months in a coma. Thankfully, we did get. The med flight, um, we had to sign a power of attorney for the Meddflat company to act on our behalf to recover their money for that flight from Little Rock to Denver. Um
Speaker 193
1:18:28
We were, uh, denied insurance while we
Speaker 191
1:18:31
were at the long-term acute care hospitals here in Little Rock. We were denied. I want to stay between 8 and 10 times. Admittance to a facility, any facility that could have helped our daughter. And eventually through yet another miracle, we were accepted to Craig Hospital. Um While we were there, faith
emerged from her coma. Um They Completed a cranioplasty which has put the piece of bone back on her, her, um, skull where it had been removed for months, um, placed a VP shunt to reduce the um the cerebrospinal fluid, um, that was in her brain and um they did bilateral Achilles relief surgery and what that is, is they took her in and they cut
both of her Achilles tendons and little slashes all the way up. Both legs because she had been in a facility where she didn't have the physical therapy that she needed. She got drop foot. So as a result, She has to have a surgery on both legs, that is. Extremely painful and takes a long time to recover from. Um, while we were there, we did Faith did get her voice back, um, they did start a regimen of
Botox, which helped her. They started PT occupational therapy and speech. Um We did have, um, We did have an extension while we were there, but the reason we got the extension was because we called my husband's company and ask them if they would advocate on our behalf. They have a lot more negotiating power than we did as individuals, and we did get, uh, an extended amount of time. Then we had to figure out, OK, what's next for our daughter, um,
Craig Hospital has a foundation, and so, um, We're very grateful for that. Um We needed to go to a facility in Texas because that was the next place where they had. The facility to help faith, and, um, in order for us to go to this place, um, we had to buy a A policy from the Affordable Care Act for Arkansas Blue Cross
and Blue Shield so that we could continue to have insurance coverage to pay for additional and that came out of our, our pocket and that was about $6000 out of pocket. Um, but we did. Get a medla thanks to Craig Hospital. They paid the whole bill for that second one, we were Taking faith to a facility where she got PTOT and speech for 6 hours a day. Um, 2 hours with each therapy
every day and that was July 2021 until October 30th, 2021. And then we came home. And we had physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy for a period of time, and then they reached what I do not understand completely, um, they said we've reached a plateau. That the literature said that faith had had all of the All of the rehabilitation that she needed to have at that
point. She was continuing to make progress, albeit slow because it was a brain injury, but we got cut off, so we had no therapy. So what were we going to do? You know, we're going to take her home and just let her. Declined till she can't function anymore, no. Thankfully, uh, we were able to. Get some help from. The University of Central Arkansas, and we work with their physical therapy department,
their speech therapy department and their occupational therapy department and I think speaking to what The folks before me said, you, everywhere you go, you're going to reach a point at which your child may be making good progress, but the literature says that they've had enough. So you're just supposed to cut it off. There's just a, uh, you
drop off a cliff and that's it and then you have to wait until your child has lost function to go back and be rehabili-evaluated for more rehabilitation. So that's the, the struggles that we're facing on top of many, many other things, but just that's the, the insurance struggle. And had faith been. Been able to get immediately from UAS to a good neuro rehab
facility, um, there's no telling what could have been accomplished, but, um, We're grateful. God has blessed us and and she is making a good recovery, but, um, It it every step of the way, it's a fight as a parent. You're fighting every day to try and get what your child needs so that they can become a functional member of society. My daughter was a scholarship student at the University of Central Arkansas. She was on the Dean's list, um,
Lots and lots and lots of activities and things. And she had a car accident. She was wearing her seat belt. It got severed. She was thrown from the car. And all of our lives changed that fast. And that's, that's all. Thank you for your time,
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
1:24:36
thank you so much for your testimony. Is there anyone else who would like to speak?
before the bill in the audience. OK. I don't see anyone else
signed up to speak on this bill, um, Representative Bentley, if you'd like to, to be, you're recognized to close for your bill. I think
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
1:24:55
you call I think most of you know that I'm free fiscally conservative person. I want to make sure we're spending our money wisely, and I was a Thank you and Beck, our colleague Rick Beck, his wife Sheila works in this industry, and Sheila contacted me. She said, Mary, if we could get these people the proper care they need when they need it, we would in the end save money and their lives would be much better off in the end I think we heard with Faith's story exactly what happened if she had been able to
get rehab when she needed it, her outcome would have been much better in the end we would have spent a lot less money. So again, this is a something they've started in Texas seen very little increase in premiums and a great outcomes and
Representative Carol Dalby
Unverified
1:25:29
so I would like to see this here in Arkansas and uh with that. I'm closed for
the bill. Thank you. I thank Representative Bentley. She has closed for her bill, um. Reps
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
1:25:41
of Acre, you're recognized. I have a motion do pass from Ripsaker.
But, excuse me, um, yes, we have a motion to pass as amended by Representative Acer. All in favor say aye. Any say no. Congratulations, you've passed your bill. Thank you,
Speaker 128
1:25:58
Chairman. Thank you for your time. I appreciate it. I'll
Speaker 200
1:26:03
be right back. All right. John got I OK All right guys, we're
gonna go ahead and without objection move uh back up to the agenda. We're
gonna hear House Bill 1488 without objection. And I believe we have an amendment. Is that correct, Representative Wardlaw? That is correct. All right, I'm going to give just a few minutes to y'all to look over that amendment and you're going to be recognized to present your amendment. I think most members got it if
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
1:26:47
you want me to go ahead and start explaining it. Uh, you
may. So members when I got this amendment comes from an oversight on the bill, um, all the amendment does is says while the insurer company, insurance company is holding your dollars, they can't not bind you for that life insurance policy that they're holding the dollars on. Um, and that's as simple as the amendment is. I got a motion
to adopt his proper motion. Is there any discussion on the motion? And um, all those in favor of
adoption of the amendment. Say aye. All posed say no. Congratulations, your amendment was adopted. You may proceed with the presentation of your bill as amended. Thank you,
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
1:27:31
Mr. Chair. So back in August, I had a constituent contact me that had a rather large, um, whole life insurance policy. He asked for it to be canceled because he found a better deal at another company, uh, when he canceled it, they informed him that they'd be holding his rather large sum of money for im ate ly 6 to 8 months. Uh, and
in that 6th or 8 months, he would not have a bonder. So this guy's an airplane pilot, moves around a lot, and he decided he could not fly his airplane over that 6 to 8 months because his family would not be protected. His businesses would not be protected. Uh, so he called me and we got with the insurance commissioner and looked through other states and how they regulate this and frankly, personally it's kind of ridiculous that they would hold your money that long. So most states take that to 30 days. Uh, that's
all this bill does. But the second part is that amendment. It requires them to hold that binder there if they're going to hold your money longer than that 30 days. That way you can still fly your airplane. You can still carry on normal life activities without having to worry about your family or your business is not having significant funds to operate after you're gone. So with that, Mr. Chair, and I have the insurance department here at the table with me to answer any questions they helped draft the bill. To make sure we were doing this correctly. So I'll answer any
questions if, if there are any Yeah, from the Representative Wooten, you're recognized for your question. Of course I have emotion inappropriate time. All right. We have a motion at the proper time, but, uh, Representative Ecker, do you have a question? You're recognized for your question, sir. Thank you. Thank
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
1:29:09
you for presenting this. Um, so, The problem that we're solving here is there's he's worried that if he informs them that he's canceling their policy and while that money is waiting and tied up, he feels that if he were to pass away that they wouldn't be able to, his family wouldn't be able to access the
Speaker 44
1:29:26
full benefit. They just solve that. He canceled this policy. They held his large sum
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
1:29:30
of money for 6 months without paying any interest. So they were gaining money on his money without paying him any money for his weight. Plus, they canceled his bonder. the day he canceled the policy, so he had no way of binding himself to a life insurance policy during that period. So they were off the
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
1:29:48
hook immediately, but they held his money for 6 months. That's right. This bill prevents that from happening. Thank you.
Thank you, Representative Baker. Any other questions from the committee, Representative call you recognized for your question. Thank
Representative Brad Hall
Unverified
1:30:03
you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, I think I'm on board with the problem you're trying to solve for this is more curiosity about the language in the bill on And make sure I've got the right one. Yep. In the reference as uh on the line 34 prime rate is published in The Wall Street Journal on the day that the demand is met. Is that a normal way of
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
1:30:28
referencing, um, rates. My understanding is yes. I just don't know. That's, that's the proper way to reference the prime
rate. Which is the higher rate established. In the US, and that the reason we use that higher rate is try to deter insurance companies from going past the 30th day. Thank you. Thank you, Representative McCollum.
Any other questions from the committee? See none. Is there anyone in the audience to speak for or against this bill? See none
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
1:31:00
I would like to say Um To that point, and Representative McCollum just made. You know, the only objection I've had to this bill since it's been filed has been from insurance companies worried about paying the prime rate on day 31. Um, that is the only objection this bill, and I've been very surprised at how many companies actually hold our constituents' dollars past the 30th day. Um It's their money. pay them their money. That's
what the bill says to do. And if you're going to hold it, at least pay them interest on what you're holding. Um,
and with that, I'd appreciate a good vote. All right, I guess I'll take that as your clothes for your bill. I closed. All right. What's the will of the committee and we have a motion, I believe, from Representative Wootton, do pass. I have a motion to pass as amended from Representative Wooten. Promotion. Any discussion on the motion 9. All those in favor say aye. All poll say no.
Congratulations, I have it. You have passed your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee. Members, we are having some of our members having to go to another meeting. We still have a corum though, so I think we can proceed and I'd like to keep making progress. So Representative Johnson, I think you have a couple of bills you'd like to present.
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
1:32:35
Representative, if you, if you would just let us
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
1:32:37
know the bill number you want to
start with. Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. HB 1587. Representative Lee Johnson, District
47. Thank you, sir. You may proceed when
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
1:32:49
you're ready, members. This is the any willing provider legislation. As you look at that legislation, you'll see that it lists a whole group of qualifying, uh, folks for any willing provider. If you scroll down to where the single change is currently in that list it
says pharmacists we're clarifying to indicate that we mean both pharmacists and pharmacy, uh, is, is simply clarifying language when that bill was drafted, they've always, uh, the, the The assumption has been that those two are one entity. Uh, this is just clarifying that so that either entity, whether a pharmacy or a pharmacist can act as a any willing provider. Thank you, Representative. Questioned by the committee,
Representative Lungstrom recognized motion at the proper time. OK.
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
1:33:36
Any other questions by the committee? OK Seeing non-represent long term, you're recognized for emotion. Motion to pass. We have a
motion to pass by Relstrom all in favor say aye, aye. Any post say no. Thank you, Representative Johnson. You can proceed with your next bill. Thank you. House Bill 1298. OK. Thank you, sir. You may proceed with your testimony.
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
1:34:11
Yeah, House Bill 1298 members, this bill is trying to clarify an issue that's come up since the No Surprises Act was enacted federally, the No Surprises Act is a law that prevents healthcare providers from balanced billing. So if you're out of network with an insurance company and you don't want to take the agreed to out of network uh payment because you don't think that's sufficient. You can't just bill the patient, uh, who you've seen, the balance of the bill, right? This was what was known as balance building surprise billing, the federal law was designed to prevent that. What the federal law. did provide was an independent
dispute resolution process so that if you as a provider think that, hey, you know, uh, you insurance company agreed to pay me this. I think it ought to be higher than this. There's a process for resolving that dispute and coming to an agreed to amount that's somewhere between X and Y, right? Um, the issue that we're seeing is that that amount once agreed to sometimes is being made paid directly to the patient. In instead of to the healthcare provider. So the issue then
becomes the health care provider who's, you know, uh, resolve this dispute, arbitrated this issue, then has to go and send a bill to the patient and try to collect that money back. This just says that once that agreed to amount has been uh resolved, it'll go directly to the health care provider and not to the patient to kind of cut out that step. And I'd be happy to try to answer any questions on
it. And Gregson Johnson, any questions about the committee? Luster. Are there any disputes
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
1:35:44
or issues with this, having the. hospital be paid? I haven't had anyone ask any questions, and this is common practice in some other areas. The reason this is different is because this is a new process since the federal law has been enacted and so for most hospitals in Arkansas, they're in-network. There are a few that are out of network with certain providers where this is coming up, but most people at some point negotiate some sort of in-network rate. This just is for that proviso that if, if you don't, how does that get settled and then where does the payment
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
1:36:14
go? OK, thank you. Do pass at the proper time. OK. Thank you. Any other questions about the committee? Seeing none, is there anyone who would like to, there's no one signed up, but there's anyone in the island stock speak against this bill. Anyone else who
would like to speak for this bill? OK. Um, excuse me, Johnson, would you'd like to close for your bill? I'm close for my bill. He's closer to Bill Lu term you for a motion. Do pass. We have a motion to pass by Representative Lundstrom all in favor say aye. Any posts say no.
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
1:36:44
Congratulations, you passed your bell. Members, is there any, any other business before the committee today. I'd seen Senator Boyd, and he, but he apparently is left, so, OK, seeing no other business, we are adjourned.
Agenda
REGULAR AGENDA
HB1467 Achor TO AMEND THE UNIFORM MONEY SERVICES ACT.
HB1488 Wardlaw TO AMEND THE STANDARD NONFORFEITURE LAW FOR LIFE INSURANCE; AND TO REQUIRE AN INSURER TO PAY INTEREST ON DEFERRED PAYMENT OF ANY CASH SURRENDER VALUE UNDER CERTAIN POLICIES.
HB1517 Ray TO ESTABLISH THE EARNED WAGE ACCESS SERVICES ACT.
HB1519 Cavenaugh TO ALLOW THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE HIRING AND CONTRACTING OF EMPLOYEES FOR THE STATE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT, STATE BANK DEPARTMENT, AND STATE SECURITIES DEPARTMENT.
HB1531 Achor TO PROHIBIT PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURERS FROM RESTRICTING OR LIMITING PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS TO A LIMITED DISTRIBUTION NETWORK OF OUT-OF-STATE PHARMACIES.
SB229 J. Boyd TO CREATE THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE.
HB1547 L. Johnson TO AMEND THE WATER AUTHORITY ACT; AND TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF "QUALIFIED CORPORATION" UNDER THE WATER AUTHORITY ACT.
HB1408 Pilkington TO ALLOW QUALIFYING PATIENTS OR DESIGNATED CAREGIVERS TO PURCHASE MEDICAL MARIJUANA USING A FLEXIBLE SPENDING ACCOUNT OR A HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNT.
SB236 J. Boyd TO AMEND THE INSURANCE HOLDING COMPANY REGULATORY ACT.
SB240 Hill TO AMEND THE CREDIT REPORTING DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1989; AND TO CLARIFY THE CONTENT REQUIRED FOR A NOTICE OF ADVERSE ACTION.
HB1583 Bentley TO MANDATE COVERAGE FOR ACQUIRED BRAIN INJURY.
HB1587 L. Johnson CONCERNING THE ANY WILLING PROVIDER LAWS; AND TO AMEND THE PATIENT PROTECTION ACT OF 1995.
HB1595 Steimel TO ENACT THE STATE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT'S GENERAL OMNIBUS AMENDMENT OF ARKANSAS INSURANCE CODE.
HB1602 L. Johnson TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGER LICENSURE ACT; TO ESTABLISH FEES UNDER THE ARKANSAS PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGER LICENSURE ACT; AND TO REQUIRE REPORTING OF CERTAIN INFORMATION BY A PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGER.
HB1620 Gramlich TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGERS; AND TO REGULATE PROCESSING AND PAYMENT OF PHARMACY CLAIMS.
HB1625 Barnett TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR LICENSED HOME INSPECTORS.
HB1298 L. Johnson TO MODIFY PAYMENT OF BENEFITS FOR CERTAIN HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS UNDER A HEALTH BENEFIT PLAN.
HB1367 Warren TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS TITLE INSURANCE ACT; AND TO REGULATE ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS BY A TITLE AGENT AND A TITLE COMPANY.
SB237 J. Boyd TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE LICENSING AND REGULATION OF CAPTIVE INSURERS.
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — INSURANCE & COMMERCE- HOUSE, Mar 5, 2025 | Agenda | 3 | Official source ↗ |
Speakers
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
Representative John Maddox Chair
Unverified
Representative Les Warren
Unverified
Representative Trey Steimel Chair
Unverified
Chair
Unverified
Representative David Ray
Unverified
Andrew Welch
Unverified
Speaker 22
Speaker 24
Speaker 29
Speaker 41
Speaker 43
Speaker 33
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
Representative Kenneth B. Ferguson
Unverified
Speaker 65
Speaker 44
Speaker 19
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
Representative Dwight Tosh
Unverified
Speaker 116
Representative Zack Gramlich
Unverified
Speaker 71
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
Representative Carol Dalby
Unverified
Uh Doctor
Unverified
Representative Les D. Eaves
Unverified
Speaker 139
Speaker 156
Speaker 166
Speaker 172
Speaker 174
Speaker 176
Speaker 178
Speaker 177
Speaker 183
Speaker 173
Speaker 186
Speaker 26
Speaker 190
Speaker 191
Speaker 193
Speaker 128
Speaker 200
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
Representative Brad Hall
Unverified
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified