---
type: "Bill"
title: "TO CLARIFY THE APPLICABILITY OF STEP THERAPY PROTOCOLS; AND TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF \"HEALTH BENEFIT PLAN\" TO INCLUDE INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIED HEALTH INSURANCE PLANS."
description: "TO CLARIFY THE APPLICABILITY OF STEP THERAPY PROTOCOLS; AND TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF \"HEALTH BENEFIT PLAN\" TO INCLUDE INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIED HEALTH INSURANCE PLANS."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ar"
legislature: "Arkansas Legislature"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 446"
citation: "Arkansas SB 446 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bledsoe", "Vaught"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 15
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-03-01T21:30:13+00:00"
last_action: "2021-04-13T15:39:57+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/501ab8b1-3c56-4ba4-9a41-245faeb51e21"
source_url: "ftp://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/SessionInformation/LegislativeMeasures.txt"
source_hash: "1b7c7fccfc21565747298f84e6240d18d8da3d6635d2ff0f6f9666d1735112a4"
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 SB 446 (2021) — TO CLARIFY THE APPLICABILITY OF STEP THERAPY PROTOCOLS; AND TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF "HEALTH BENEFIT PLAN" TO INCLUDE INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIED HEALTH INSURANCE PLANS.

## Version chain

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

1. **SB 446** (committee substitute) — [source](ftp://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/2021R/Public/Searchable/SB446.pdf)

## Votes

- Read the third time and passed. — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. — **93–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bledsoe — primary (person)
- Vaught — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-03-01T21:30:13+00:00** Filed `introduction`
- **2021-03-01T22:35:25+00:00** Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to INSURANCE & COMMERCE - SENATE `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2021-03-16T21:51:38+00:00** Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-17T18:50:24+00:00** Read the third time and passed. `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-03-17T18:50:35+00:00** Ordered immediately transmitted to the House.
- **2021-03-17T21:25:23+00:00** RECEIVED FROM THE SENATE
- **2021-03-17T22:00:11+00:00** Read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on INSURANCE & COMMERCE- HOUSE `reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2021-04-05T17:23:48+00:00** Returned by the Committee Do Pass `committee-passage`
- **2021-04-06T20:07:10+00:00** Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-04-06T20:07:15+00:00** Returned To the Senate as passed.
- **2021-04-06T22:21:31+00:00** Returned from the House as passed.
- **2021-04-06T22:21:37+00:00** ORDERED ENROLLED
- **2021-04-07T15:43:38+00:00** Reported correctly enrolled and ordered delivered to the Governor.
- **2021-04-07T15:43:44+00:00** DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR. `executive-receipt`
- **2021-04-13T15:39:57+00:00** Notification that SB446 is now Act 645 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/501ab8b1-3c56-4ba4-9a41-245faeb51e21`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Arkansas legislature records).