New York lawmakers have approved a bill that would require public health insurance providers in the state to include medical marijuana as a covered prescription drug and authorize private insurers to do the same.
The Assembly Health Committee passed the legislation from Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes (D) in an 18-7 vote on Tuesday. It now heads to the Ways & Means Committee before potentially advancing to the floor.
The measure would amend state statute to define cannabis as a “prescription drug,” “covered drug” or “health care service” for health insurance purposes. Medical marijuana would need to be covered by public insurance entities “regardless of federal financial participation” in their services.
State Medicaid, Child Health Plus, workers compensation and EPIC programs would be required to treat cannabis from certified dispensaries the same as other conventional pharmaceuticals for the purposes of coverage.
Private health insurers, on the other hand, wouldn’t be forced to provide coverage for medical marijuana, but the bill clarifies that they can if they choose to.
The commissioner of the state Department of Health would also be authorized to “certify a dispensing site…as a medical assistance provider, solely for the purpose of dispensing medical marihuana,” the bill text says.
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