KUAR | By Tess Vrbin / Arkansas Advocate
From the Arkansas Advocate:
A proposed Arkansas law that would have allowed nonprofit hospitals to hold a retail pharmacy permit narrowly failed in committee Wednesday after more than an hour and a half of discussion and public testimony.
Arkansas is the only state in which the law currently prohibits nonprofit, tax-exempt or governmentally-funded hospitals from holding or acquiring interest in retail pharmacy permits.
Lawmakers have attempted for years to change this via policy proposals that intend to help both hospitals and independently owned pharmacies serve their communities, Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, the lead sponsor of Senate Bill 58, told the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee.
Committee rejects bill to allow nonprofit Arkansas hospitals to hold retail pharmacy permits
Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate
Ryan Gehrig (center), president of Mercy Arkansas Hospitals, testifies in favor of a bill that would allow nonprofit hospitals in Arkansas to hold retail pharmacy permits on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. At right is Troy Wells, president and CEO of Baptist Health, who also spoke in favor of the bill before it was voted down by the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee.