Tennessee 114th General Assembly Status: Enacted 7 R cosponsors

SB 2081 — AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 8; Title 56; Title 63; Title 68 and Title 71, relative to step therapy.

Last action — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 995

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed Senate
  4. ✓
    Passed House
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 22, 2026. Enacted.

Signed by Governor Bill Lee (Republican) on April 30, 2026.

Odds of enactment

High chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a high chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 82% · moderate confidence

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 7 sponsors

    1 primary, 6 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (7 R).

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 2 recorded votes so far.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

In plain language

The bill expands protections against step therapy protocols for cancer patients.

This bill prohibits health benefit plans from requiring step therapy for any cancer treatment. Previously, this only applied to advanced metastatic cancers.

What this means for you
  • Families: Family members of cancer patients may experience reduced stress over insurance approval delays for treatments.
  • Healthcare: This means healthcare providers can prescribe necessary cancer treatments without insurance hurdles.

Summary

Insurance Companies, Agents, Brokers, Policies - As enacted, expands the prohibition, from stage 4 advanced metastatic cancer or metastatic blood cancer to any cancer, against a health benefit plan that provides coverage for cancer requiring the use of a step therapy protocol before the health benefit plan provides coverage for an approved prescription drug to an enrollee who has received a diagnosis of cancer. - Amends TCA Title 8; Title 56; Title 63; Title 68 and Title 71.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Filed for introduction

  2. Intro., P1C.

  3. P2C, ref. to Insurance Committee - Government Operations for Review

  4. Assigned to s/c Insurance Subcommittee

  5. Placed on s/c cal Insurance Subcommittee for 3/4/2026

  6. Action Def. in s/c Insurance Subcommittee to 3/11/2026

  7. Placed on s/c cal Insurance Subcommittee for 3/11/2026

  8. Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Insurance Committee

  9. Placed on cal. Insurance Committee for 3/17/2026

  10. Sponsor(s) Added.

  11. Sponsor(s) Added.

  12. Action def. in Insurance Committee to 3/24/2026

  13. Placed on cal. Insurance Committee for 3/24/2026

  14. Sponsor(s) Added.

  15. Rec. for pass; ref to Government Operations Committee

  16. Placed on cal. Government Operations Committee for 3/30/2026

  17. Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee

  18. Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/2/2026

  19. H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/6/2026

  20. Sponsor(s) Added.

  21. Passed H., Ayes 90, Nays 1, PNV 4

  22. Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.

  23. Received from House, Passed on First Consideration

  24. Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.

  25. Passed Senate, Ayes 30, Nays 3

  26. Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.

  27. Signed by H. Speaker

  28. Signed by Senate Speaker

  29. Transmitted to Governor for his action.

  30. Signed by Governor.

  31. Pub. Ch. 995

  32. Effective date(s) 01/01/2027

  33. Filed for introduction

  34. Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  35. Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Commerce and Labor Committee

  36. Placed on Senate Commerce and Labor Committee calendar for 3/3/2026

  37. Action deferred in Senate Commerce and Labor Committee to 3/10/2026

  38. Placed on Senate Commerce and Labor Committee calendar for 3/10/2026

  39. Action deferred in Senate Commerce and Labor Committee to 3/17/2026

  40. Placed on Senate Commerce and Labor Committee calendar for 4/7/2026

  41. Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  42. Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/20/2026

  43. Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/20/2026

  44. Sponsor(s) Added.

  45. Companion House Bill substituted

  46. Sponsor(s) Added.

  47. Comp. became Pub. Ch. 995

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 6 co-sponsors · 126 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (6)

Not signed on (126)

126 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 126 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

Subjects

healthcare health-insurance
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does SB 2081 do?
Insurance Companies, Agents, Brokers, Policies - As enacted, expands the prohibition, from stage 4 advanced metastatic cancer or metastatic blood cancer to any cancer, against a health benefit plan that provides coverage for cancer requiring the use of a step therapy protocol before the health benefit plan provides coverage for an approved prescription drug to an enrollee who has received a diagnosis of cancer. - Amends TCA Title 8; Title 56; Title 63; Title 68 and Title 71.
Who sponsors SB 2081?
SB 2081 is sponsored by Watson, Bo (Republican), Gardenhire, Todd (Republican), Bowling, Janice (Republican), Crowe, Rusty (Republican), Hensley, Joey (Republican), Pody, Mark (Republican), and Rose, Paul (Republican).
What is the current status of SB 2081?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 22, 2026. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 2081?
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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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