§ 5-55-104 - Records.
5-55-104. Records.
(a) No potential medicaid recipient is eligible for medical assistance unless he or she has authorized in writing the Director of the Department of Health and Human Services to examine all records of the potential medicaid recipient's own, or of those receiving or having received medicaid benefits through him or her, whether or not the receipt of the benefits would be allowed by the Arkansas Medicaid Program, for the purpose of investigating whether any person may have committed the crime of Medicaid fraud or for use or potential use in any legal, administrative, or judicial proceeding.
(b) No person is eligible to receive any payment from the Arkansas Medicaid Program or its fiscal agents unless the person has authorized in writing the director to examine all records for the purpose of investigating whether any person may have committed the crime of medicaid fraud or for use or for potential use in any legal, administrative, or judicial proceeding.
(c) The Attorney General and the prosecuting attorneys are allowed access to all records of persons and medicaid recipients under the Arkansas Medicaid Program to which the director has access for the purpose of investigating whether any person may have committed the crime of medicaid fraud or for use or potential use in any legal, administrative, or judicial proceeding.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, no person is subject to any civil or criminal liability for providing access to records to the director, the Attorney General, or the prosecuting attorneys.
(e) Records obtained by the director, the Attorney General, or the prosecuting attorneys pursuant to this subchapter are classified as confidential information and are not subject to outside review or release by any individual except when records are used or potentially to be used by any government entity in any legal, administrative, or judicial proceeding.
(f) All persons under the Arkansas Medicaid Program are required to maintain at their principal place of medicaid business all records at least for a period of five (5) years from the date of claimed provision of any goods or services to any medicaid recipient.
(g) (1) Any person found not to have maintained any records is guilty of a Class D felony if the unavailability of records impairs or obstructs the prosecution of a felony.
(2) Otherwise, the unavailability of records is a Class A misdemeanor.