A new partnership between two health organizations gives companies the opportunity to offer medical cannabis coverage as part of their workplace benefits package to reduce out-of-pocket costs for employees who use cannabis for therapeutic purposes. will be given.
Describing itself as “dedicated to filling the gap in the health insurance industry for medical cannabis patients,” Bennabis Health is a New Jersey-based cannabis consultant and insurance broker that covers marijuana, CBD, and CBD. It announced its partnership with CannaCoverage last week. Hemp industry. Benavis said in a press release that this is the “first group health medical cannabis program” to provide employee benefits.
Rather than traditional insurance plans, Bennabis allows patients to receive discounts on medical cannabis products. This is an additional benefit available to employers and can be integrated into existing health benefit plans, a process handled by CannaCoverage. At Bennabis, we have an individual membership program for those who do not receive benefits from their employer, where they can receive her 15% discount at participating pharmacies.
“Bennabis Health is not a plant company,” the announcement release explains. “Rather, we are contracting with a network of participating healthcare providers who prioritize the importance of supporting patients on their cannabis journey.”
The release positions this announcement as an early example of an upcoming trend to normalize medical marijuana coverage in workplace benefits and defer marijuana coverage under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA). This alludes to a recent recommendation from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). .
“Following recent HHS recommendations to reschedule cannabis, these two organizations expect legalization to occur in the near future,” the paper said. Schedule III will help normalize cannabis as a medicine, and the future of medicine will include this new benefit option. ”
“Cannabis has been legalized in the majority of states in the United States, and we are working with Bennabis Health at a pivotal moment in history,” CannaCoverage co-founder and CEO Nichelle Santos said in a release. We are pleased to be able to partner with them,” he said in a statement. “The opportunity to reschedule cannabis opens the door for medical cannabis as a multimodal option and as an alternative to opioids and other synthetic prescription drugs.
According to Benavis’ website, its network includes pharmacies in three jurisdictions: five in New Jersey, one in Washington, D.C., and one in New Mexico. In an email to Marijuana Moment this week, the company confirmed that the benefit is currently only available in these three states, but added that “there have been some recent updates that need to be made.”
“Our goal is to expand into every state that offers medical marijuana,” said Cynthia Tantum, Benavis’ director of marketing. “We are open to discussions with medical cannabis dispensaries interested in joining our network.”
CannaCoverage co-founder and chief operating officer Jeff Booker said in a statement that the proposal is “not only the morally right thing to do, but it also has economic implications.”
“This is an opportunity to bring Benavis Health into the American mainstream, not just for the cannabis industry and cannabis industry employers, but for all industries,” he said. “This alternative medical cannabis benefit will deliver significant cost savings through reduced medical billing and prescription benefits, impacting our bottom line.”
This announcement comes just weeks after Enthea, another health benefits provider, announced it would offer health benefits plans that cover ketamine-assisted therapy. The company said employers interested in offering psychedelic therapy as a covered treatment “can simply add it as an ancillary benefit, similar to dental or vision therapy.”
Soap company Dr. Bronner’s made headlines last year for offering psychedelic-assisted therapy to workers through its Entair employee health plan.
In a partnership with Dr. Bronner’s in 2022, the soap company will offer “free ketamine-assisted therapy to all benefit-eligible employees” through Enthea, and approximately 7 percent of the company’s employees will receive benefits from their employer. This led to them enrolling in the benefits offered. Results from a study released in August showed that employees who received ketamine treatment reported “dramatic improvements in their mental health,” with generally positive outcomes.
Enthea says it plans to further expand its services to include MDMA- and psilocybin-based treatments “upon approval.” The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designated MDMA a “Breakthrough Therapy” in 2017, and following a successful Phase 3 clinical trial published in Nature last month, the substance is now eligible for FDA approval next year. It is under consideration. Talk therapy reduced her symptoms of moderate to severe PTSD.
In June, the FDA released its first-ever draft guidelines for psychedelic research.
When it comes to cannabis rescheduling, two Republican senators recently introduced legislation that would prevent federal agencies from rescheduling cannabis without Congressional approval.
However, a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report last month concluded that the DEA is “likely” to follow HHS’ schedule change recommendations, which were made after an 11-month scientific review at Biden’s direction.
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