A coalition of health advocacy organizations and anti-cannabis groups sued the Trump administration on Monday over its plan to allow Medicare coverage for hemp-derived CBD and THC products. Plaintiffs include Smart Approaches to Marijuana, Cannabis Industry Victims Educating Judges, North Carolinians Against Legalization of Marijuana, Cannabis Impact Prevention Coalition, LLC, Cannabis Industry Victims Seeking Justice, County Drug Foundation of America, Save Drugs Courses International Anti-Drug Alliance, Illinois Family Institute and North Carolina resident and SAM donor David Evans.
The lawsuit was filed after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will begin covering CBD and THC products as an incentive to engage beneficiaries of substance access (BEI). The document names CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz and US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as a defendant.
Under the proposed BEI, patients enrolled in certain federal health insurance programs could cover up to $500 worth of hemp-derived products each year. The lawsuit alleges that the plan violates administrative rules because the CBD and THC products covered by the program have not received Food and Drug Administration approval and because CMS did not publish a notice of proposed rulemaking, which prevented public comment.
The complaint further alleges that the program would violate the Social Security Act, which “does not permit CMS to sanction the possession and use of illegal and dangerous Schedule I substances by Medicare patients without express congressional authorization.”
“CMS’s action represents an unprecedented and unlawful assertion of binding decision-making authority that will profoundly affect the health of older Americans. “CMS took this action without the hurdles imposed by the administrative process, without any reasoned explanation, in violation of the agency’s final determination pursuant to the APA, and without statutory authority.” – Smart approaches to marijuana, etc. al v. HHS, US CMS
The filing alleges that Evans would be personally harmed by CMS’ changes because he is a Medicare recipient who was not allowed to submit public comment on the BEI and whose “health care relationship” with CMS is changed by the plan.
The lawsuit alleges that there is a “research gap” for medical cannabis and hemp products and alleges that “commercially available CBD products are contaminated and mislabeled.”
The suit seeks a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction, a stay of the agency’s action pending a judicial review, and asks the court to vacate the EIB, declare it illegal and permanently enjoin the policy.
