A bill to be heard by the House Appropriations Committee on Monday, House Bill 2211, would give health insurers an advantage in No Surprises Act arbitration by introducing two new caps on what a health care provider may offer:



• 300% of the approved Medicare reimbursement rate, or
• 300% of the qualified payment amount

A violation of the statute would be considered unprofessional conduct and could threaten a physician's license. The health care community is united in opposition, and we need your help voicing it to the committee.

The pharmacist-led "Test and Treat" bill, House Bill 2444, limped out of the House Health & Human Services Committee this week with a 7-5 vote. ArMA testified before the committee on the dangers this legislation presents, and we were joined in opposition by pharmacists who also view the bill as unsafe and overly burdensome.



A stakeholder meeting was held Wednesday, but no agreement was reached. ArMA's Advocacy Team will continue to fight against this mis-guided bill, but we need your help. Let the House of Representatives know physicians stand firmly against HB2444 by sending them a pre-drafted letter today.

The licensed midwives bill, House Bill 2251, advanced this week with an amendment granting prescriptive authority for the following:

• Antibiotics for Group B Strep
• Antihemorrhagics strictly for the prevention of hemorrhage
• Vitamin K prophylaxis
• IV fluids for routine administration
• Prophylactic eye medication for newborns
• Local anesthetics



Work remains to be done on the bill but negotiations are continuing in good faith toward a solution that protects patients. ArMA's Advocacy Team continues to be a part of these discussions and closely monitor the legislation..

House Bill 2250, which originally included sweeping prior authorization reforms, passed committee this week after being scaled back to two key timeline changes:

• Emergency requests: Decision required within 72 hours
• Non-emergency requests: Decision required within seven days



The amendment included problematic language — pushed by the insurance industry — that would require all prior authorizations to be submitted electronically. While electronic submission may make sense in many situations, any such requirement must include a delayed effective date for implementation, as well as exceptions for access issues such as broadband outages or system failures like United's payment portal crash in 2024.

The bill's sponsor has committed to addressing ArMA's concerns before the bill advances further.

ArMA testified in opposition to Senate Bill 1494 Thursday. The bill, introduced as a strike-everything amendment, attempts to expand the unlawful patient brokering statute to make it a felony for a provider to "steer, advise, recommend, or encourage" a patient regarding their health insurance coverage.



While ArMA shares the goal of addressing fraud and abusive patient referral schemes, the bill's language is so broad and vague that it would ensnare routine doctor-patient interactions. The bill passed committee along partisan lines, though the sponsor and committee members committed to addressing the significant problems with the legislation.