Who pays for the use of medical cannabis in Colombia

Given the fact that more than 97% of the country's population is covered by health insurance, it can be assumed that pharmacological companies have artificially formed a market for potential several million patients of pharmacological preparations made on the basis of the therapeutic properties of the hemp plant, the cost of which will be paid by insurance companies or the state budget of the country.

On the pages of the specialized electronic edition of national cannabis growers, the attention of our respected readers and listeners has repeatedly been focused on the fact that, due to the huge cost and dubious effectiveness, the number of patients using pharmacological preparations made on the basis of the therapeutic properties of hemp in the economically developed countries of the world at the initial stages is extremely small and continues to grow for 2-3 years. “Unattended” by pharmacologists, this market is initially miserable and of little interest in any country in the world, however, the efforts of lobbyists to include “hemp pharmaceuticals” in the lists of mandatory insurance coverage by insurance companies gives a significant increase in sales almost immediately after this mechanism is implemented. How effectively pharmaceutical companies work to increase the number of patients using insurance compensation to pay off the cost of drugs manufactured on the basis of the therapeutic properties of the hemp plant, it makes sense to consider the example of Colombia.

At the beginning of 2020, in Colombia, it was allowed to legally sell pharmacological preparations based on the therapeutic properties of hemp through the country's pharmacy chains. As in other countries that regulated the use of the plant for medicinal purposes, during the year there was no huge rush among patients to purchase “hemp pharmacological agents” due to their huge cost. That is why, already in December 2020, the interested pharmacological lobby is seeking the inclusion of medical cannabis in the list of approved drugs required for insurance coverage from the government of Colombia. As early as 2021, between 30 and 60 percent of cannabis-based pharmaceuticals sold in Colombia were properly licensed and covered by insurance regulations. After the decision was made to indemnify the cost of pharmacological preparations based on the therapeutic properties of hemp, in 2021 the pharmaceutical companies themselves focused on increasing their sales by 5-9 times.

At the end of 2021, the government of the country is going to “further improve the regulatory framework” aimed at enabling the use of the therapeutic properties of the plant, adding drugs made based on the therapeutic properties of cannabis to the list of mandatory covered drugs for every insurance company in the country. Thus, from January 1, 2022, every insurance company in Colombia is obliged to cover the costs of using prescriptions for the use of medical cannabis. “Regulatory Enhancement” is about stimulating the coverage process by greatly simplifying the process and reducing the time it takes for patients to be approved for coverage across the country. In fact, from January 1, 2022, any patient in Colombia will be able to receive “cannabis medicines” almost free of charge, regardless of the insurance company with which the corresponding contract is concluded.

Both statistics and employees working in this segment of the modern cannabis industry in Colombia state that although the previous rules that provided insurance reimbursement opportunities for the cost of pharmacological preparations based on the therapeutic properties of cannabis were quite complex, immediately after their introduction, the number patients using “cannabis pharmacological preparations” has increased dramatically. Market experts argue that in 2022, due to a significant simplification of the insurance coverage for the use of “hemp pharmaceuticals”, the number of patients using them will grow exponentially.

The statistics of one of the largest companies specializing in the sale of pharmacological preparations based on the therapeutic properties of cannabis in Colombia looks extremely interesting. The data below clearly demonstrates how rapidly the number of patients using “cannabis pharmaceuticals” is increasing when their cost is compensated by insurance companies / budgetary funds.

Commentary of the specialists of the Association “Ukrainian Industrial Hemp”

This kind of regulatory simplification being implemented by Colombian government officials is creating one of the largest medical cannabis insurance markets in the world. Given the fact that more than 97% of the country's population is covered by health insurance, it can be assumed that pharmacological companies have artificially formed a market for potential several million patients of pharmacological preparations made on the basis of the therapeutic properties of the hemp plant, the cost of which will be paid by insurance companies or the state budget of the country.

I would like to once again focus on the fact that in our country several varieties of technical hemp of a therapeutic orientation have been created and already included in the state register of plants suitable for distribution on the territory of Ukraine, the leaves and inflorescences of which have a huge therapeutic potential. It depends solely on the citizens of our country whether the therapeutic properties of the plant will be used by Ukrainian patients at the lowest price by using the above plant varieties as food/drinks or various additives, or whether each citizen of Ukraine will pay “out of his own pocket” (state budget) for using the therapeutic properties of a plant commercialized by international pharmacological companies.