South Dakota lawmakers are considering a bill that states workers compensation insurers would not be required to reimburse for medical marijuana.
S.B. 17, introduced Jan. 11 and slated for a hearing with the Senate Health and Human Services Hearing on Friday, amends the state’s medical marijuana act, which currently precludes a “private insurer” from having to reimburse, to include two additional categories of payers: “workers compensation insurance carrier, or self-insured employer providing workers compensation benefits.”
The courts have been weighing in on whether workers compensation payers should reimburse for medical marijuana with “largely mixed results,” said Brian Allen, Salt Lake City-based vice president of governmental affairs, pharmacy solutions for Mitchell International Inc.