Financial’Hardship’and’Medical’Cannabis’

Financial Hardship and Medical Cannabis

Far too often, serious illness comes hand--in--hand with financial troubles. The leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States is medical bills. Affording medical cannabis can be particularly problematic because states typically do not require insurance companies to cover the federally illegal treatment. However, there are a number of things states can do to try to mitigate the financial hardship for patients, especially low--income patients.

1) Low or no patient registration fee

At least one state, New Mexico, does not charge any patient registration fee for medical cannabis. Other states ensure fees for ID cards do not exceed what is needed to administer the program. Colorado's fee is only $15, which is sufficient to cover costs of administering the patient registry.

2) Reducing the frequency of patient ID card renewals

Some states only require patients to renew their medical cannabis ID cards every two years, which reduces cost to patients. States could consider requiring renewal only every two -- or even five -- years for chronic conditions, unless the doctor notifies the state the patient has recovered.

3) Keeping medicine tax free

Most states do not impose sales tax on prescription medications. There is an equally compelling reason not to tax medical cannabis, which patients must pay for out of pocket. However, the standard state exemption for prescriptions does not usually extend to cannabis since it cannot be prescribed under federal law. One way to lessen the burden on patients is to exempt medical cannabis from sales taxes and to avoid adding an excise tax.

4) Providing exceptions or reductions in taxes and fees for low--income patients

Some states -- such as Michigan and Massachusetts -- allow low--income patients to pay a reduced application fee. In Massachusetts, the fee may be waived for patients with a verified financial hardship, meaning the patient is a "recipient of MassHealth, or Supplemental Security Income, or the individual's income does not exceed 300% of the federal poverty level, adjusted for family size." In Colorado, patients with a low income ID card can avoid sales tax.

Massachusetts also allows low--income patients to cultivate their own cannabis.

5) Incentivizing discounts for low--income patients

Some state laws that include competitive application processes for dispensaries provide extra points for those that have programs to provide discounted or free cannabis to low--income patients.

6) Crafting policies to avoid unnecessary costs

Even those patients who are not low--income are often struggling under the weight of their medical expenses. It is important that state laws be crafted in a way that keeps costs as a whole down by avoiding excessive regulations that are unnecessarily expensive. Having an adequate amount of competition in each class of licenses is also important to keeping costs reasonable.

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