Most of us with employer-sponsored health plans think nothing of pulling out a health insurance ID card at the pharmacy. Our health insurance includes prescription plans that reduce the cost of prescription medications at the counter. Not so with medical cannabis.
Your average health insurance carrier does not cover medical cannabis – either the substance itself or healthcare services aligned with it. Customers pay out of pocket if they choose to use it. However, that could change in the future thanks to the DEA formerly recommending that marijuana be rescheduled to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
Cash on the Barrelhead
Back before there were such things as credit and debit cards, people paid for things with cash. We have an old idiom in American English to describe it: cash on the barrelhead. The idiom refers to the days when empty barrels were made into makeshift desks at which merchants would conduct their business.
At any rate, cash on the barrelhead is what you will experience if you visit the Beehive Farmacy in Brigham City, UT. In fact, it is what you’ll find at most medical marijuana dispensaries around the country. Dispensaries and pharmacies are generally cash-only operations due to a lack of medical insurance coverage and the inability of dispensary and pharmacy owners to access banking services.
What does this mean to patients? It means that medical cannabis can be both expensive and inconvenient. It’s expensive in the sense that consumers pay the entire cost out of pocket. It is inconvenient in the sense that they need to carry cash with them.
The Health Insurance Problem
Having to pay cash is a function of the banking system. As for the health insurance problem, there are several things in play. Health insurance companies are reluctant to cover medical cannabis because:
- It’s still illegal under federal law. As long as marijuana remains regulated under the CSA, insurance carriers are going to be wary of it. They will not even touch it as long as it remains on Schedule I.
- Clinical evidence is lacking. Insurance carriers tend to be reluctant to cover anything considered experimental. Right now, medical cannabis does not have FDA approval. Said approval is lacking because clinical evidence in support of medical cannabis is also lacking.
Until these two issues are ironed out, it is unlikely health insurance companies will cover medical cannabis recommendations or prescriptions. But as previously mentioned, things could change with the move to reschedule.
Removing the Legal Restrictions
Rescheduling marijuana would eliminate the legal restrictions now preventing insurance companies from covering medical cannabis. Marijuana would be moved to Schedule III, putting it in the same classification as things like ketamine and anabolic steroids. With a proper prescription from a doctor, patients could legally purchase and use medical cannabis.
This sort of thing removes any legal liability now faced by insurance companies. Therefore, rescheduling is the first step toward insurance company coverage. The second step is submitting the research data required to get FDA approval.
Fortunately, rescheduling marijuana opens the door to more research. It gives scientists greater access to cannabis plants and the ability to conduct research without fear of federal prosecution. We should see a measurable uptick in research once rescheduling takes place.
It’s Only a Matter of Time
Medical cannabis is currently off the table for health insurance companies. But things will not stay that way forever. It is only a matter of time before we start seeing FDA approval and traditional physician prescriptions. When we get there, health insurance companies will have little choice but to start covering medical cannabis like any other drug.
