Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs bill limiting medical insurance settlements

Yahoo

12-02-2025

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The governor on Tuesday signed into law legislation impacting insurance settlements introduced in the current Arkansas legislative session.
The one-sentence-long House Bill 1204 impacts the amount of money Arkansans receive in court cases. The bill, now Act 28 with the governor's signature, mandates that any insurance repayment for medical expenses after an injury from an accident only be repaid to the plaintiff for the amount billed to the insurance company.
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The legislation addresses the issue of paying for someone's injuries after an accident, being the difference between the full price of medical care and the adjusted, lower price hospitals charge for someone with insurance.
Sen. Missy Irvin (R-Mountain View), one of the bill's sponsors, explained that the legislation corrected the law resulting from a 1998 Arkansas Supreme Court decision. In that case, the plaintiffs used the non-adjusted amount of their medical bills to show the seriousness of their injuries despite receiving a 50% discount.
The court ruled that the plaintiff's adjusted amount was a 'collateral source' and could not be used as evidence, as the defendant wished, and the jury heard of the whole, non-adjusted cost of injuries.
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Irvin compared it to returning a sweater to a store after purchasing it at a 50% discount, expecting a full 100% price refund that did not reflect the discount.
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