Title 20, Public Health and Welfare

(1) The purpose of this subchapter is to:(1) Provide early detection of hearing loss by physiological measurement in newborn children at the birthing facility or as soon after birth as possible;(2) Enable these children and their families and caregivers to obtain needed multidisc…

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Birth admission” means the time after birth that the newborn remains in the hospital nursery before discharge;(2) “Birthing hospital” means any hospital located within the State of Arkansas that delivers newborns;(3) “Follow-up care” and “follo…

(a) There is created the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening, Tracking, and Intervention Advisory Board. (b) (1) The board shall be composed of seven (7) members appointed by the Governor, after consulting the Arkansas Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Inc., from the following…

(a) After July 30, 1999, and promulgation of rules, every birthing hospital in this state with more than fifty (50) births per year shall provide or arrange for a bilateral physiological hearing screening on each birth admission. Medicaid shall reimburse the birthing hospital for…

No test is to be performed if the parent of a newborn or infant dissents on the ground that the test conflicts with a personal religious belief or practice.

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Arkansas Colorectal Cancer Screening Initiative Act”.

(a) The General Assembly finds that:(1) (A) In 2015, colorectal cancer was the second leading cause of cancer death in Arkansas.(B) An estimated one thousand five hundred eighty-two (1,582) new cases of colorectal cancer were diagnosed in Arkansas during 2015.(C) An estimated one…

(1) As used in this subchapter, “high risk” means:(1) An individual over forty-five (45) years of age or who faces a high risk for colorectal cancer because of:(A) The presence of one (1) or more polyps on a previous colonoscopy, barium enema, or flexible sigmoidoscopy;(B) Family…

(a) There is created the Arkansas Colorectal Cancer Screening Initiative in the Department of Health, if funds are available. (b) The Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences may collaborate with the department and the Arkansas C…

(1) The Arkansas Colorectal Cancer Screening Initiative funded under this subchapter shall:(1) Provide screenings and diagnostic tests for colorectal cancer to individuals who are:(A) Forty-five (45) years of age or older; or(B) Under forty-five (45) years of age and at high risk…

The Department of Human Services and the Department of Health shall collaborate to identify goals and benchmarks while also developing individual entity plans to reduce the incidence of diabetes in Arkansas, improve diabetes care, and control complications associated with diabete…

(1) The Department of Human Services and the Department of Health shall submit a report to the Legislative Council by January 10 of each even-numbered year, including without limitation the following:(1) The financial impact and reach that diabetes of all types are having on each…

The requirements of this subchapter are limited to the diabetes information, data, initiatives, and programs within each agency before July 22, 2015, unless there is available funding for diabetes in each agency that may be used for new research, data collection, reporting, or ot…

The Department of Health shall accumulate such data concerning cancer in Arkansas and its residents as is deemed appropriate for the purposes of describing the frequency of cancer, furnishing reports to health professionals and the public, and for planning and evaluating cancer p…

A task force consisting of public and private entities shall be established by the Secretary of the Department of Health to assist the Department of Health in developing a strategic plan for a coordinated, comprehensive, statewide network of cancer resources, services, and progra…

(a) Information accumulated and maintained in the Arkansas Central Cancer Registry shall not be divulged except for statistical information that does not identify individuals and for purposes of research by a qualified researcher. (b) As used in this section, “qualified researche…

(a) The Department of Health may enter into agreements with other states and federal organizations authorized to exchange registry data. (b) The agreements shall prohibit divulging information to entities without prior approval of the department.

The Department of Health may receive gifts, grants, and donations for the purposes of this subchapter.

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Right to Try Act”.

(1) It is found and determined by the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas that:(1) The process of approval for investigational drugs, biological products, and devices in the United States often takes many years;(2) Patients who have a terminal disease do not have the luxury…

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Eligible patient” means a person who meets the requirements of eligibility in § 20-15-2104;(2) “Investigational drug, biological product, or device” means a drug, biological product, or device that:(A) Has successfully completed phase I of clin…

(1) In order for a patient to access an investigational drug, biological product, or device under this subchapter, a physician must document in the patient's medical record and chart that the patient:(1) Has a terminal illness;(2) Has a determination from a qualified physician th…

A manufacturer of an investigational drug, biological product, or device may, but is not required to, make its investigational drug, biological product, or device available to eligible patients under this subchapter.

(a) A manufacturer of an investigational drug, biological product, or device may:(1) Provide an investigational drug, biological product, or device to an eligible patient without receiving compensation; or(2) (A) Require an eligible patient to pay the costs associated with the ma…

(1) An insurance company:(1) May, but is not required to, provide coverage for an investigational drug, biological product, or device; and(2) Shall not deny coverage for an item or service that is otherwise covered by an insurance contract between the eligible person and an insur…

(1) The recommendation, prescription, treatment, or participation in the treatment of a terminal illness with an investigational drug, biological product, or device shall not permit:(1) A licensing board to revoke a license, fail to renew a license, or take any other action again…

The counseling, advice, or recommendation by a medical professional who is licensed under state law is not a violation of this subchapter.

(a) Except in the case of gross negligence or willful misconduct, a person or entity that manufacturers, imports, distributes, prescribes, dispenses, administers, or is otherwise involved in the care of an eligible patient using an investigational drug, biological product, or dev…

This subchapter does not require the Department of Human Services or the Arkansas Medicaid Program to provide additional coverage for an investigational drug, biological product, or device.

(a) (1) The Department of Health shall establish the Maternal Mortality Review Committee to review maternal deaths and to develop strategies for the prevention of maternal deaths.(2) The committee shall be multidisciplinary and composed of members as deemed appropriate by the dep…

(1) The Maternal Mortality Review Committee shall:(1) Review pregnancy-associated deaths or deaths of women with indication of pregnancy up to three hundred sixty-five (365) days after the end of pregnancy, regardless of cause, to identify the factors contributing to these deaths…

(a) Healthcare providers, healthcare facilities, and pharmacies shall provide reasonable access to the Maternal Mortality Review Committee to all relevant medical records associated with a case under review by the committee. (b) A healthcare provider, healthcare facility, or phar…

(a) (1) Information, records, reports, statements, notes, memoranda, or other data collected under this subchapter are not admissible as evidence in any action of any kind in any court or before any other tribunal, board, agency, or person.(2) Information, records, reports, state…

Disclosure of protected health information is allowed for public health, safety, and law enforcement purposes, and providing case information on maternal deaths for review by the Maternal Mortality Review Committee is not a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accoun…

State, local, or regional committee members are immune from civil and criminal liability in connection with their good faith participation in the maternal death review and all activities related to a review with the Maternal Mortality Review Committee.

(a) Beginning in 2020, the Maternal Mortality Review Committee shall file a written report on the number and causes of maternal deaths and its recommendations on or before December 31 of each year to:(1) The Senate Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor;(2) The House Comm…

(a) (1) The Department of Health shall establish the Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes Quality Review Committee to review data on births and to develop strategies for improving birth outcomes.(2) The committee shall be multidisciplinary and composed of members as deemed appropriate…

(1) The Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes Quality Review Committee shall:(1) Create a unified message and strategy that builds on best practices;(2) Develop clear measurements to evaluate targeted outreach, progress, and return on investment;(3) Develop recommendations for levels o…

(a) Healthcare providers, healthcare facilities, and pharmacies shall provide reasonable access to the Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes Quality Review Committee to all relevant medical records associated with a case under review by the committee. (b) A healthcare provider, healthc…

(a) (1) Information, records, reports, statements, notes, memoranda, or other data collected under this subchapter are not admissible as evidence in any action of any kind in any court or before any other tribunal, board, agency, or person.(2) Information, records, reports, state…

Disclosure of protected health information is allowed for public health, safety, and law enforcement purposes and providing case information on maternal deaths for review by the Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes Quality Review Committee is not a violation of the Health Insurance Po…

State, local, or regional members of the Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes Quality Review Committee are immune from civil and criminal liability in connection with their good faith participation in a maternal death review and all activities related to a review with the committee.

(a) Beginning in 2020, the Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes Quality Review Committee shall file a written report on maternal and perinatal outcomes and its recommendations on or before December 31 of each year to:(1) The Senate Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor;(2) Th…

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Right to Try Individualized Investigational Treatment Act”.

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Costs associated with the manufacture of the individualized investigational treatment” means the actual out-of-pocket costs incurred in providing the individualized investigational treatment to the patient in his or her specific case;(2) “Eligi…

(1) In order for a patient to access an individualized investigational treatment under this subchapter, a physician shall document in the patient's medical record and chart that the patient:(1) Has a life-threatening or severely debilitating illness;(2) Has considered all other t…