The case of an Ontario student that successfully petitioned his health insurance provider to cover a medical marijuana prescription may have helped pave the way for the eventual coverage of cannabis by private insurers in Canada.
The student, 22-year-old Jonathan Zaid, told administrators at the University of Waterloo that medical marijuana is the only thing that improves his concentration enough to allow him to get through his studies. While he has a prescription for the drug from his doctor, however, he said he could not afford the$30-a-day price.
The school spoke to its health insurance provider, Sun Life, which eventually decided to cover the cost of the drug for Zaid.
Sun Life did not comment on the specifics of the case, but did confirm in a statement that covering medical marijuana is not something it is considering at large.
“Currently medical marijuana is not considered an eligible benefit in our standard drug plans,” the insurer said. “We do consider, and where possible, accommodate requests for exceptions if directed by the plan sponsors.”
Insurers in Canada are in general hesitant to cover cannabis, fearing the potential onslaught of claims. Zaid, however, is hoping his new organization.
After his experience, he started the organization Canadians For Fair Access to Medical Marijuana, which is advocating for more carriers to begin considering medical marijuana as a covered drug.
“Now we know Sun Life can cover it if the employer wants it, but employers will only want it if workers argue for it,” Zaid told Huffington Post Canada.
“I hope to help advocate for patients on a national scale by promoting medical marijuana so that physicians and everyone becomes more comfortable with it and to decrease the stigma of it.”
Medical marijuana is already causing debate at the highest levels of the federal government. Health Canada is attempting to ban the practice of allowing cannabis patients to grow their own supply, saying such operations are inherently unsafe.
Patients, however, say the $5 to $12 per gram price is unaffordable. If Health Canada succeeds, organizations like Zaid’s may have a greater argument in their efforts to push insurers to cover cannabis.
