Legislative Affairs

The legislative session concluded on April 19th and your Arkansas Medical Society was there fighting for you. This was arguably our most successful session to date. Of the 15 bills actively supported by the AMS, 13 passed and NONE of the 12 bills we actively opposed made it through (see summary below).

We have always taken great pride in our strong advocacy efforts at the state Capitol, in Washington and in the courtroom on behalf of physicians and our patients. This kind of success year after year is a direct result of the support of physicians from every specialty and every corner of our state; coming together, working for their patients and their profession.

H. Scott Smith, JD
AMS Director of Gov. Affairs

If you would like to become involved in the Society’s advocacy efforts, visit the links below, join our political action committee, or give us a call at 800.542.1058.

• Locate Your Legislator
• At the Capitol (videos and events)
• Join ARKMED-PAC

2013 Legislative Review

Bills We Supported (passed in bold)

• Prior Authorization Form (Act 338)
• Medical Board Credentialing Extension (Act 1035)
• Medicaid Appeals Fairness & Appro. (Act 562)
• Peer Review Extension (Act 441)
• Peer Review Fairness (Act 766)
• Mammography Parity (Act 1259)
• Health Care Decisions (Act 1264)
• Medicaid Oversight Panel (Act 1266)
• Transparency in Health Care Credentials (HB 2261)
• RAC Bounty Prohibition (Act 1109)
• Outpatient Surgery (Act 587)
• Tort Reform (SJR 5)
• Private Option & Appropriations (Acts 1497 / 1498)

Bills We Opposed (none were passed)

• Naturopath Licensure (HB 1011)
• Child “Abuse” (HB 1098)
• Midwives (HB 1182)
• CRNAs (HB 1189)
• APN Medicaid PCP (HB 1190)
• Smart Card (HB 1256 / SB 248)
• License Revocation (HB 1791)
• ER Physician Prescribing Prohibition (HB 1957)
• APN Equal Pay (HB 2097)
• Patient Protection Gutting (SB 877)
• Prisoner Pay (SB 1102)
• Repeal of Medical School Admission Allocations by Congressional District (SB 1120)