Expanding Medical Care in Arkansas

Issue Areas

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By 2030:

THE SOLUTION

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In the 2025 legislative session, Sen. Bart Hester and Rep. Lee Johnson introduced and successfully passed legislation that creates a new pathway to expand medical care in the state. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed it into law, increasing care for people in the state.

Traditionally, qualified doctors licensed outside the U.S. have to come as trainees, or “medical residents,” even if they are repeating training they have already completed in their home countries.

This meant top foreign doctors who treat professional athletes around the world, for example, could treat American athletes only overseas. Or doctors who wanted to help underserved communities in the U.S. would have to take lower pay and repeat training they had already completed in another country.

Now that red tape has been cut, doctors who have already been trained abroad will have a chance to help the people of Arkansas without having to repeat training.

WHY IT MATTERS

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This will mean more doctors to serve the people Arkansas who need care.

Currently:

This will alleviate the significant physician shortages facing the state. Arkansas’s physician-to-patient ratio is 25% lower than the national average—and it’s significantly worse for some specialties.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

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By passing legislation that opens Arkansas to international physicians,
leaders in the state have opened Arkansas to better healthcare.
Now, the state will be more attractive to doctors from abroad, which will reduce wait times and help the people of the state get better care, sooner.