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Senate committee approves bill letting Arkansas patients choose home delivery or local pickup of prescriptions
Summary
House Bill 18-52 would require the Arkansas State Board of Pharmacy to set safety standards for prescription home delivery and prohibit pharmacies or PBMs that hold Arkansas pharmacy permits from mandating home delivery; the committee approved the bill by voice vote after no public testimony.
House Bill 18-52, carried in the Senate by Senator Rapord, would require the Arkansas State Board of Pharmacy to adopt rules setting safe delivery standards for prescription medications and prohibit pharmacies or pharmacy-benefit managers (PBMs) that own Arkansas pharmacy permits from mandating home delivery.
"This would allow a patient to choose whether they get the prescriptions at their local pharmacy or through home delivery," Senator Rapord said in presenting the measure, which he described as a "pro-patient bill" that responds to pandemic-era delivery problems and mail delays. The bill mirrors a 1987 Arkansas statute that made it illegal for employers to require mandatory mail-order pharmacy use, Rapord said.
The measure directs the Board of Pharmacy to promulgate rules to promote safe delivery procedures and aims to prevent insurers, PBMs, or permit-holding pharmacies from forcing patients into home-delivery programs. No members of the public signed up to testify for or against the bill during the committee hearing.
After brief questioning that produced no substantive amendments or public testimony, the committee made a motion, seconded, and approved the bill by voice vote. The transcript records no roll-call tally in committee; the chair announced the bill as passed.
