---
type: "Bill"
title: "TO PROHIBIT REQUIRING CERTAIN REFERRALS FROM A PRIMARY CARE PROVIDER IN ORDER FOR A BENEFICIARY IN THE ARKANSAS MEDICAID PROGRAM TO RECEIVE MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING."
description: "TO PROHIBIT REQUIRING CERTAIN REFERRALS FROM A PRIMARY CARE PROVIDER IN ORDER FOR A BENEFICIARY IN THE ARKANSAS MEDICAID PROGRAM TO RECEIVE MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ar"
legislature: "Arkansas Legislature"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 1862"
citation: "Arkansas HB 1862 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["L. Johnson"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 16
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-04-01T19:51:48+00:00"
last_action: "2021-04-25T18:14:32+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6be0cd93-c7e3-4b96-979d-8c56d89ffa2f"
source_url: "ftp://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/SessionInformation/LegislativeMeasures.txt"
source_hash: "09911904bc8e039e2bfc3209a126ef6f101f0a58b2cdd1f95858f1459299a379"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ar"]
---

# Arkansas HB 1862 (2021) — TO PROHIBIT REQUIRING CERTAIN REFERRALS FROM A PRIMARY CARE PROVIDER IN ORDER FOR A BENEFICIARY IN THE ARKANSAS MEDICAID PROGRAM TO RECEIVE MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Amendment H1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/FTPDocument?path=%2FAMEND%2F2021R%2FPublic%2FHB1862-H1.pdf)
2. **HB 1862** (committee substitute) — [source](ftp://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/2021R/Public/Searchable/HB1862.pdf)

## Votes

- Read the third time and passed. — **34–0** (pass) · upper
- Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. — **94–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- L. Johnson — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-04-01T19:51:48+00:00** Filed `introduction`
- **2021-04-01T22:43:38+00:00** Read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH, WELFARE AND LABOR COMMITTEE- HOUSE `reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2021-04-07T13:35:56+00:00** Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment.
- **2021-04-07T13:36:02+00:00** Amendment No. 1 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage`
- **2021-04-07T16:17:10+00:00** REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED
- **2021-04-08T19:29:10+00:00** Returned by the Committee Do Pass `committee-passage`
- **2021-04-12T20:00:04+00:00** Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-04-12T22:12:37+00:00** Received from the House.
- **2021-04-12T22:12:47+00:00** Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to PUBLIC HEALTH, WELFARE AND LABOR COMMITTEE - SENATE `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2021-04-15T19:16:15+00:00** Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-20T21:32:31+00:00** Read the third time and passed. `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-04-20T21:32:50+00:00** Returned to the House as passed.
- **2021-04-20T23:07:57+00:00** Returned From the Senate as passed.
- **2021-04-20T23:07:59+00:00** TO BE ENROLLED
- **2021-04-21T15:20:44+00:00** Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's Office.
- **2021-04-25T18:14:32+00:00** Notification that HB1862 is now Act 886 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/6be0cd93-c7e3-4b96-979d-8c56d89ffa2f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Arkansas legislature records).