Committee approves bill to let Arkansas set state rules under federal No Surprises Act

A bill to allow the Arkansas Insurance Department to adopt state rules to adjudicate disputes under the federal No Surprises Act passed the Senate Insurance & Commerce Committee.

Representative Lee Johnson said the No Surprises Act, enacted federally in 2021, created a national default dispute‑resolution process for out‑of‑network billing disputes. He told the committee the bill gives the state department authority to promulgate alternative, state‑level procedures tailored to Arkansas rather than being forced to use the federal default process.

Johnson described the federal act’s purpose as resolving issues between in‑network and out‑of‑network provider charges and said the measure is intended to let the Insurance Department adopt rules to adjudicate those disputes locally. Senators asked whether the measure has a senate sponsor for the floor calendar; members agreed to coordinate sponsorship to ensure the bill can proceed.

With no public opponents signed up, the committee voted to do pass the bill and the sponsor said he would work to secure a senate sponsor for floor consideration.