Enacts provisions relating to insurance coverage of alternatives to opioid drugs

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Enacts provisions relating to insurance coverage of alternatives to opioid drugs

The following summaries of this bill are available: Print All Summaries Introduced Print SB 902 - This act provides that an enrollee's health benefit plan shall not deny coverage of a nonopioid prescription drug in favor of an opioid drug, require the enrollee to try an opioid drug before covering the nonopioid prescription drug, or require a higher level of cost-sharing for a nonopioid prescription drug than for an opioid drug.

What This Bill Does

• The following summaries of this bill are available: Print All Summaries Introduced Print SB 902 - This act provides that an enrollee's health benefit plan shall not deny coverage of a nonopioid prescription drug in favor of an opioid drug, require the enrollee to try an opioid drug before covering the nonopioid prescription drug, or require a higher level of cost-sharing for a nonopioid prescription drug than for an opioid drug.
• This act shall apply to health benefit plans delivered, issued for delivery, continued, or renewed in this state on or after January 1, 2027.
• This act is identical to HB 1680 (2026), HB 1966 (2026), and similar to SCS/SB 841 (2026), the truly agreed to and finally passed HCS/SB 1019 (2026), SB 1449 (2026), SB 158 (2025), the truly agreed to and finally passed HCS/HB 2372 (2026), HCS/HBs 2642, 2296, 1966 & 1680 (2026), SB 158 (2025), HB 804 (2025), and provisions in HCS/SS/SB 7 (2025).
• TAYLOR MIDDLETON

Limits and Unknowns

• This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Official Summary Text

The following summaries of this bill are available:

Print All Summaries

Introduced

Print

SB 902 - This act provides that an enrollee's health benefit plan shall not deny coverage of a nonopioid prescription drug in favor of an opioid drug, require the enrollee to try an opioid drug before covering the nonopioid prescription drug, or require a higher level of cost-sharing for a nonopioid prescription drug than for an opioid drug.

This act shall apply to health benefit plans delivered, issued for delivery, continued, or renewed in this state on or after January 1, 2027.

This act is identical to HB 1680 (2026), HB 1966 (2026), and similar to SCS/SB 841 (2026), the truly agreed to and finally passed HCS/SB 1019 (2026), SB 1449 (2026), SB 158 (2025), the truly agreed to and finally passed HCS/HB 2372 (2026), HCS/HBs 2642, 2296, 1966 & 1680 (2026), SB 158 (2025), HB 804 (2025), and provisions in HCS/SS/SB 7 (2025).
TAYLOR MIDDLETON

Current Bill Text

SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 902
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR HENDERSON.
4240S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To amend chapter 376, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to insurance coverage
of alternatives to opioid drugs.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 376, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto 1
one new section, to be known as section 376.1280, to read as 2
follows:3
376.1280. 1. As used in this section, the following 1
terms mean: 2
(1) "Acute pain", pain that results from disease, 3
accidental or intentional trauma, or other causes, that a 4
health care provider reasonably expects to last thirty days 5
or fewer; 6
(2) "Enrollee", the same meaning given to the term in 7
section 376.1350; 8
(3) "Health benefit plan", the same meaning given to 9
the term in section 376.1350; 10
(4) "Health care professional", the same meaning given 11
to the term in section 376.1350. 12
2. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the 13
contrary, when a licensed health care professional acting 14
within the scope of his or her license prescribes a 15
nonopioid medication for the treatment of acute pain to an 16
enrollee, it shall be unlawful for a health benefit plan to: 17
SB 902 2
(1) Deny coverage of the nonopioid prescription drug 18
in favor of an opioid prescription drug; 19
(2) Require the enrollee to try an opioid prescription 20
drug before providing coverage of the nonopioid prescription 21
drug; or 22
(3) Require a higher level of cost-sharing for the 23
nonopioid prescription drug than for an opioid prescription 24
drug. 25
3. This section shall apply to health benefit plans 26
delivered, issued for delivery, continued, or renewed on or 27
after January 1, 2027. 28
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