Now that marijuana has been legalized in New York State, you may have questions about marijuana and your workers’ compensation claim. You may be wondering if NYS workers’ compensation provides benefits for medical marijuana. It can but there are stipulations workers’ compensation recipients should consider.
Medical marijuana is a covered benefit under workers’ compensation insurance in NYS as long as it is pre-authorized by a licensed practitioner. If your doctor thinks that you are a candidate for medical marijuana, you must first be certified with the state. Your doctor would then file a prior authorization request (PAR) through the Workers’ Compensation Board’s medical portal outlining the requested treatment, duration of treatment, anticipated functional gains, and an explanation of why alternative treatments would not be successful.
If the Workers’ Compensation Board grants the doctor’s request, the carrier is required to reimburse an injured worker for the out-of-pocket costs. However, you will only be reimbursed for medical marijuana purchased in line with the authorization submitted by the prescriber. So if you anticipate receiving medical marijuana treatment as part of your compensation claim, you’ll want to review your employer’s marijuana use policies to see how they may impact you.
If you have any questions about marijuana in a NYS workers’ compensation claim, call Lewis & Lewis, P.C. today at 716-854-2100.
