Federal Agency Proposes Medicare Coverage for CBD Products

A federal agency under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Friday published proposed rule changes in the Federal Register that would authorize Medicare coverage for CBD products, Marijuana Moment reports.

The notice, published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), would amend the policy from prohibiting Medicare coverage for any “cannabis products” at all to just prohibiting coverage for “cannabis products that are illegal under applicable state or federal law, including the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.”

The change would apparently open the door to Medicare insurers claiming hemp-derived cannabinoids — like cannabidiol (CBD), a nonpsychoactive compound that has been shown to help manage pain and inflammation — so long as they are legal under both federal and local state laws.

Currently, consumers in the U.S. can purchase a wide range of hemp-derived cannabinoid products. Under a spending bill signed into law last month by President Trump, however, nearly all of those product sales will be banned — a looming and existential threat for the multi-billion-dollar American hemp products industry.

Meanwhile, in September, Trump shared a video on social media touting the medicinal benefits of CBD for senior citizens. Publicly traded cannabis stocks jumped following the president’s unexpected recognition of cannabis-based medicines.