Tennessee
State Facts
Deaths, or 70.5% of all overdose deaths in the year ending April 2025 involved opioids.¹
or 4.6% of all Medicare Part D claims were for opioids in 2023 – an average of 67 per prescriber.²
Opioid Prescriptions were written for every 100 persons in Tennessee in 2023.³
the estimated total societal cost of opioid use disorder (OUD) to the state in 2024.⁴
Opioid Settlement Funds
Providing support for non-opioid pain treatment alternatives, including training providers to offer or refer to multi-modal, evidence-informed treatment of pain
Member & Endorser Footprint
Co-Sponsors (119th)
Rep. Charles "Chuck" Fleischmann (R-TN-3)
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09)
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN-02)
2024 Passed Relevant Legislation
SB 2011/ HB 2903
This law prohibits Tennessee’s Medicaid program and insurers from preferring opioids over non-opioid pain medications, mandates immediate inclusion of FDA-approved non-opioids on the Medicaid Preferred Drug List, and requires reimbursement for providers who administer non-opioid treatments.
Effective date
07/01/20242025 Introduced Relevant Legislation
HB 37/SB 428
This bill extends Tennessee’s non-opioid parity protections to state employee group insurance plans, requiring that non-opioid pain medications be covered at least as favorably as opioids, with immediate inclusion on the Preferred Drug List upon FDA approval and mandated reimbursement for providers.
Introduced
12/16/2024Plan Impact
TN State Employee Group Insuance PlansVoices Letters
HB 37 Letter of Support
SB 428 Letter of Support
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2025). Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2025). Medicare Part D Opioid Prescribing Mapping Tool. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/f1051d23738c4980a08002bf301f7d8a
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2025). Opioid Dispensing Rate Maps. https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/data-research/facts-stats/opioid-dispensing-rate-maps.html
4. Avalere Health (2025). The cost of addiction: Opioid use disorder in the United States. https://advisory.avalerehealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Avalere-Health-White-Paper_The-cost-of-opioid-addiction_OUD-in-the-United-States.pdf