Dec 6, 2024 - Politics

Five bills we're watching in the Arkansas legislature

Alex Golden

Illustration of a caduceus wrapped around a pen next to a small notepad — Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios

We're keeping an eye on the bills your state senators and representatives are filing in anticipation of the legislative session coming up in January.

The big picture: Here are a few more we've been following since the first batch.

🤰 HB1054 would require the state's Medicaid program to cover blood pressure monitors during pregnancy and for one year after giving birth.

🩺 HB1055 would require state employee and public school health insurance to cover Alzheimer's and dementia-related treatment.

🤧 HB1052 would require health insurance programs receiving state money to cover monoclonal antibody treatments for respiratory syncytial virus.

⚖️ SB5 seeks to make "prescription drug harm or homicide" a criminal offense. The bill would allow a leader of a pharmaceutical company to be charged with a felony if they introduce a prescription drug into the market, knowingly hides its dangerous effects and a person dies or is seriously injured after taking the drug.

Similarly, SB6 would create a criminal offense of "vaccine harm" if a person dies or is seriously injured after receiving a vaccine.

Go deeper: See more bills we're watching

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Five bills we're watching in the Arkansas legislature

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