By: Heathalyn Roochy

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I want to share with you all about the difficulty I am still having getting Narcan this year. Last year I had private insurance through my husbands work and that was through United Health of River Valley, in November of 2015 I was able to obtain the Narcan (which is now on recall for faulty administration which tends to stream rather than mist) for a copay of $4. This year when I tried to renew my Narcan I was told with TNCare I need Dr.'s prior authorization for it to be covered. The Dr. at Rural Health Consortium will not give prior authorization because I don't take any opiates myself. They are unfortunately uninformed regarding the law in TN (TN Senate Bill No. 1631, Ch.623), one medical professional at the corporate headquarters even told me that if I was to administer Narcan to someone who is overdosing I could get into legal trouble for "sharing my prescription". I have been able to locate a GoodRX coupon for the Narcan for under $40 at CVS. NOTE: There is a statewide standing order for Narcan so a I do not need the Dr. prior authorization to get it but for TNCare (United Health Community Plan) to cover the Narcan. This is not about the money but the difficulty and stigma endured while trying to get this done.