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Senate panel advances wide slate of health, safety and administrative bills; Medicaid fraud measure clears committee
Summary
The Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee approved multiple bills in one session, including a Medicaid fraud overhaul, privacy/FOIA alignment for home‑health records, tobacco‑cessation coverage changes, peer recovery certification and other measures; several technical bills and a permissive assisted‑living waiver request also moved forward.
The Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee advanced a package of bills that its members described as a mix of technical fixes, program pilots and enforcement updates.
Among the measures that passed by voice vote were House Bill 17‑19 (Medicaid fraud unit revisions), House Bill 17‑12 (a FOIA alignment for certain home‑health records), House Bill 15‑55 (expanding Medicaid coverage of tobacco‑cessation medications without prior authorization), and a pilot authorizing DHS to test rideshare‑style nonemergency medical transport in Central Arkansas.
Lloyd Warford, director…
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