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)
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN)
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
07/01/2024Introduced Relevant Legislation
House Bill 37/Senate Bill 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 PlansHouse Bill 1741/Senate Bill 1790
HB 1741/SB 1790 would ensure that individuals within the Tennessee Department of Corrections can access FDA-approved, non-opioid pain approaches without being disadvantaged by restrictive coverage or utilization practices.
Introduced
01/21/2026Voices Letters
HB 37 Letter of Support
SB 428 Letter of Support
House Bill 1741/Senate Bill 1790 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