(a) The General Assembly finds that:(1) The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Hospitals Without Walls program allows participating ambulatory surgery centers to convert to licensed hospitals during the period of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency;(2) In cooperation and in an effort to promote public health, the Department of Health suspended portions of its Rules for Hospitals and Related Institutions according to the Governor's Executive Order 20-06 and 20-16 to allow the issuance of hospital licenses to facilities previously licensed as ambulatory surgery centers in this state that enrolled as a hospital under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Hospitals Without Walls program; and(3) Legislative clarification is necessary to clarify the obligations of a healthcare insurer in negotiating and contracting with healthcare providers in order to prohibit anticompetitive practices and to promote public health in this state.(b) It is the intent of the General Assembly that healthcare insurers shall cooperate with healthcare providers as described in this subchapter in good faith for the benefit of the citizens of this state.Added by Act 2021, No. General Assembly that healthcare insurers shall cooperate with healthcare providers as described in this subchapter in good faith for the benefit of the citizens of this state.Added by Act 2021, No. 723,§ 1, eff. 7/28/2021.
Arkansas Legal Code