Colombia Reaffirms Insurance Coverage for Medical Cannabis Products
Starting January 1, 2023, every insurance provider in Colombia must cover the costs of medical cannabis prescriptions for patients.
In December 2022, the Ministry of Health of Colombia reaffirmed the inclusion of plant-based medical cannabis products in its mandatory insurance coverage system (1). Khiron Life Sciences Corporation, a global medical cannabis company, also announced that with this confirmation, Zerenia Colombia, Khiron´s wholly owned medical cannabis clinic network, entered into a contract to provide "Integrative Health Services and Pharmacotherapeutic Treatment with Medical Cannabis.” For the first time in Latin America, an insurance company is contracting medical cannabis specific services and products (1).
"Today is a great day for patients in Colombia and Khiron,” Alvaro Torres, CEO of Khiron said (1). “We welcome the decision from the new Colombian government to categorically mandate insurance coverage for our medical cannabis products. With this decision, Khiron will immediately tackle the backlog of covered medical cannabis products to our patients. In parallel, we have also secured a first-of-its-kind contractual relationship with one of Colombia´s largest government-owned insurance companies for medical cannabis specific healthcare services and dispensation.”
The Colombian government also validated certain medical conditions evaluated by the Technical Institute of the Health Sector (IETS) that cannabis was found to be an effective treatment for, including chronic and neuropathic pain, oncology pain, sleep disorders, epilepsy, and fibromyalgia (1).
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