Source: New Jersey Herald
The cost of New Jersey medical marijuana, among the highest of any state in the country, would be covered for patients enrolled in four financial assistance programs meant to help children, seniors, crime victims and those with disabilities, under identical bills already approved by the Senate and Assembly health committees.
The bill aims to fill in the gaps for those who can’t afford medical marijuana, which runs as high as $500 per ounce in New Jersey, but are otherwise able to have medical expenses covered or reimbursed.
Patients enrolled in PAAD, which helps seniors and residents with disabilities who can’t afford prescription drugs, would pay a $7 copay.
Enrollees in the Senior Gold program would pay a copay of $15 plus 50% of the remaining cost of the medical marijuana. If the Senior Gold member has already spent $2,000 out-of-pocket, or $3,000 for married couples, the copay is just $15.
The bill would allow the Catastrophic Illness in Children Relief Fund and VCCO to cover the cost of medical marijuana for qualified patients.
The VCCO covers or reimburses the cost of medical bills, mental health counseling, loss of earnings and other expenses for people who are the victim of a violent crime.
Marijuana is still considered a Schedule I drug, with no medicinal value, by the federal government, which means it can’t be covered by any federal program or any program even remotely linked to federal funding — such as health or medical insurance.
The four programs included in the bill are exclusively organized and funded by the state. President Joe Biden’s administration has appeared to follow the policies of the last two presidential administrations and take a hands-off approach with states that have legalized weed.
There are only 19 medical marijuana dispensaries across the state but they’re operated by only 11 individual companies or nonprofits. The ratio of 5,800 patients per dispensary is among the highest of the 34 states with active medical marijuana programs, leading to a supply-and-demand issues that patients say have left them empty-handed or paying hand over fist since the first sales occurred nearly a decade ago.
That issue has only been exacerbated since 2018, when new medical marijuana laws eased qualification requirements and expanded the number of eligible conditions. The patient population has increased eight-fold in less than four years.
The Cannabis Regulatory Commission is expected to issue new medical marijuana dispensary licenses in the coming months after a series of court cases were resolved earlier this year.
The bills, sponsored by Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, and Assemblyman Herb Conaway, D-Burlington, could be voted on as soon as this week.