(a)

(1) No person or entity subject to licensure shall sell or rent or offer to sell or rent directly to patients in this state any home medical equipment, legend devices, or medical gases, or any combination thereof, unless the person or entity is licensed as required by this subchapter.

(2) The licensure requirements of this subchapter will apply to all companies, agencies, and other business entities that are in the business of supplying medical equipment to patients in their residences and that bill the patient or the patient's insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, or other third-party payor for the rent or sale of that equipment.

(b)

(1) The application for a license shall be on a form furnished by the Arkansas State Board of Pharmacy and shall be accompanied by payment of the fee prescribed by § 17-92-108.

(2) The board shall require a separate license for each facility directly or indirectly owned or operated within this state by the same person or business entity within this state, or for a parent entity with divisions, subdivisions, subsidiaries, or affiliate companies, or any combination thereof, when operations are conducted at more than one (1) location and there exists joint ownership and control among all the entities.

(c)

(1) All licenses issued under this subchapter shall expire on December 31 of each calendar year.

(2)

(A) Each application for renewal of the license must be made on or before December 31 of each year.

(B) Penalties for late payment include:

(i) A twenty-dollar penalty if not paid by February 1 of each year; and

(ii) A forty-dollar penalty if not paid by March 1 of each year.

(C) The license shall be considered null and void if the fee is not paid by April 1 of each year.

(d) Wholesale distributors licensed under § 20-64-501 et seq. may exchange those licenses for licenses issued under this subchapter without payment of additional fees.

(e) Each license issued hereunder shall be displayed by the holder thereof in a conspicuous place.