Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official PDF posted by the Tennessee General Assembly, fetched 2026-09-25. Page and line markers are part of the official record; nothing is edited or removed. This is the chaptered version. The official bill page.
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~tate of \!Cennessee
PUBLIC CHAPTER NO. 278
HOUSE BILL NO. 37
By Representative Davis
Substituted for: Senate Bill No. 428
By Senators Reeves, Haile, Jackson
AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 8; Title 53; Title 56; Title 63; Title
68 and Title 71, relative to the use of drugs for the treatment of pain.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 56, Chapter 7, is amended by adding the
following new part:
56-7-3801.
As used in this part:
(1) "Group insurance plan" means a group insurance plan that covers
state employees approved pursuant to title 8, chapter 27;
(2) "Healthcare prescriber" means a prescriber as defined in § 53-10-203;
(3) "Insurer" means an insurer that offers a group insurance plan; and
(4) "Non-opioid treatment" means a drug or biological product that is
indicated to produce analgesia without acting on the body's opioid receptors.
56-7-3802.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, an insurer, for purposes of
offering a group insurance plan, may adopt or amend a state preferred drug list (POL).
(b)
(1) In establishing and maintaining the POL, the insurer shall ensure that
a non-opioid drug approved by the United States food and drug administration for
the treatment or management of pain is not disadvantaged or discouraged with
respect to coverage relative to an opioid or narcotic drug for the treatment or
management of pain on the POL.
(2) Subdivision (b)( 1) does not prohibit an opioid medication from being
preferred over other opioid medications, or a non-opioid medication from being
preferred over other non-opioid medications.
(c) This section applies to a non-opioid drug after it has been approved by the
United States food and drug administration for a period of nine months or longer for the
treatment or management of pain, regardless of whether the drug has been reviewed by
the insurer for inclusion on the POL. This section also applies to drugs being provided
under a contract between the insurer and a pharmacy benefits manager for purposes of
a group insurance plan.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect January 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it.
- - - - HOUSE BILL NO. 37
PASSED: April 7, 2025
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CAMERONSEXTON,SPEAKER
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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' .... RAND~MCNALLy
SPEAKER OF TIE SENATE
/JpD I APPROVED this lt)L(fi. day of 2025
BILL LEE, GOVERNOREvery fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.