To Amend The Law Concerning Pharmacy Benefits Managers; And To Regulate Processing And Payment Of Pharmacy Claims.
HB1620 amends Arkansas law governing pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) and pharmacy claims processing, and creates the “Pharmacy and Pharmacist Timely Reconciliation and Payment of Pharmacist Services Act.” The bill is aimed at speeding up payment to Arkansas-licensed pharmacies and pharmacists for “clean claims,” which it defines in detail, including electronically adjudicated claims that process successfully at point of sale. It also expands and clarifies what counts as an audit, adds definitions for terms such as prepayment audit, pharmacy provider manual, pharmacy benefits management services, and manufacturer coupons, and makes the Arkansas Pharmacy Audit Bill of Rights applicable to audits involving the Arkansas Medicaid Program.
The bill requires PBMs, beginning January 1, 2026, to pay clean electronic claims within 7 to 14 days and paper or manual claims within 30 days, with notice of claim defects required within shorter deadlines. If a PBM fails to pay or timely contest a claim, the claim is deemed clean and must be paid. Late payments are subject to a 12% per month penalty, though the Insurance Commissioner may excuse penalties in exigent circumstances such as natural disasters, except where a cybersecurity or data security breach caused the delay. The bill also requires electronic funds transfer for certain clean claims when requested and prohibits retaliation against parties asserting related rights.
HB1620 further extends timely-payment obligations to pharmaceutical manufacturers that use vendors, PBMs, or claims processors to administer manufacturer coupons or discounts. Those manufacturers must maintain an active wholesale distributor permit and ensure their intermediaries comply with the bill’s payment timelines. If a manufacturer’s vendor or intermediary fails to resolve a clean-claim payment issue within the specified time, the Arkansas State Board of Pharmacy must require the manufacturer to pay 12% monthly interest directly to the affected pharmacy or pharmacist.
The bill’s overall impact is to strengthen prompt-payment protections for pharmacies and pharmacists, limit post-payment audit and recoupment practices, and increase accountability for PBMs and certain manufacturer-sponsored payment systems. It also broadens regulatory oversight by tying these requirements to the Arkansas Pharmacy Benefits Manager Licensure Act and the Pharmacy Audit Bill of Rights, while creating new statutory definitions that may affect contract drafting, claims adjudication, audits, and dispute resolution across the pharmacy benefits market.
The voting history suggests strong bipartisan support and little visible opposition, with the bill passing third reading in the House 95-0 and in the Senate 34-0. No committee transcript was provided, so there is no recorded committee debate to identify detailed arguments for or against the measure. Based on the text, the bill appears to have been framed as a patient-access and pharmacy-stability measure, and the main points of potential contention would likely involve the compliance burden on PBMs and manufacturers, the strict payment deadlines, and the size of the late-payment penalty.
HB1620 would amend Arkansas Code provisions governing pharmacy benefits managers, pharmacy audits, and licensure by adding new definitions and payment rules, and by making the Pharmacy Audit Bill of Rights expressly applicable to Medicaid-related pharmacy audits. It creates new statutory sections requiring prompt payment of clean pharmacy claims, imposing 12% monthly penalties for late payment, and extending similar timely-payment obligations to pharmaceutical manufacturers using intermediaries for coupon or discount processing. The bill would affect PBMs, pharmacies, pharmacists, Medicaid audit contractors, pharmaceutical manufacturers, claims processors, and pharmacy network contracts and provider manuals.
The available voting record indicates overwhelmingly favorable sentiment: the bill passed the House 95-0 and the Senate 34-0. The bill’s findings and structure suggest it was viewed as a pro-pharmacy, pro-patient-access measure designed to improve cash flow, reduce payment delays, and support inventory stability. No committee discussion was provided, but the unanimous votes indicate little public legislative resistance.
No direct committee testimony or recorded floor debate is included, so specific objections are not documented in the provided materials. Based on the bill’s terms, the most likely areas of contention would be the operational and financial burden on PBMs and manufacturers, the short deadlines for identifying claim defects, the deeming of unpaid or uncontested claims as clean claims, and the 12% per month penalty for late payment. The bill also narrows some post-payment review practices and expands Medicaid audit coverage, which could concern entities that rely on audit recoupments or flexible claims-processing procedures.