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Senate panel orders study on insurance coverage for stuttering after testimony from athletes and specialists
Summary
The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee voted to send legislation to the calendar that replaces a direct coverage mandate with a study by the Tennessee advisory commission on the feasibility of requiring insurance coverage for stuttering treatment.
The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee voted to move legislation (Senate Bill 2-31, as amended) that directs the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (referred to in the hearing as TASER) to study the feasibility and potential effects of requiring insurance coverage for rehabilitative services for stuttering.
Sponsor Leader Raum Akbari introduced the amendment that converts the bill from a coverage mandate to a statutory study, saying the study will produce recommendations and a report to the chief clerks of the House and Senate by July 1, 2026. "This will put us in a posture where we can hopefully get really good recommendations to make sure that children across the state get this type of treatment coverage," Leader Akbari said.
The committee heard emotional testimony in support of the study. Michael Kidd Gilchrist, identified himself as a person who stutters and a former college and NBA player, told senators he did not receive treatment until college and supported the legislation so other children could access early therapy. Speech-language pathologist Jack Henderson described stuttering as a complex neurological condition and said therapy can improve communication and life outcomes. "People who stutter can experience embarrassment, frustration, shame, and guilt, leading to avoidance of words, speaking situations, and even entire careers," Henderson said, adding access to specialists and teletherapy is uneven across the state.
The committee adopted two amendments that together made the bill a study: amendment 004900 (creating the TASER study) and a chairman's amendment that changed the study's reporting deadline to July 1, 2026. Committee counsel confirmed the body directing the work is TASER, the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, as stated on the record.
On the final recorded vote the committee approved the bill as amended. The clerk recorded 9 ayes and no nos.
The action sends the study requirement to the Senate calendar; the bill as amended does not itself mandate insurance coverage. The committee and sponsor noted further detail and any eventual mandate would be considered only after TASER issues its report and recommendations.
