Medicare’s pilot program covering hemp-derived products has officially launched. Under the plan, Medicare providers can get reimbursed up to $500 per patient annually to discuss and provide certain CBD products.
CBD products covered under the plan can’t exceed concentrations of 0.3% of delta-9 THC, or more than 3 milligrams of THC per serving. The products must also be tested by a third party and meet state and local standards. It excludes patients who have certain medical conditions, including substance use disorder and COPD.
In an April 1 statement, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz said the agency “is committed to innovation that meets patients where they are while maintaining strong safeguards and clinical oversight.”
“Under [President Donald Trump’s] leadership, we’re expanding the tools available to improve patients’ health while generating important insights into how providers can use these tools safely and effectively in real-world care settings.” — Oz in a press release
CMS Innovation Center Director Abe Sutton added that the “initiative gives providers in certain models another tool – with necessary safeguards – to support their patients’ needs through consultation about whether possible use of hemp products could help improve symptoms.”
The program is the subject of a lawsuit brought by a coalition of health advocacy organizations and anti-cannabis groups that argues it violates the Social Security Act, which “does not allow CMS to sanction the possession and use of illegal and dangerous Schedule I substances by Medicare patients without clear congressional authorization.”
