Colombia Declares Mandatory Insurance Coverage for Medical Cannabis

Beginning January 1st, 2023, every insurance provider in Colombia was mandated to cover the costs of medical cannabis prescriptions for patients. An announcement by Ministry of Health of Colombia on December 30 reaffirmed the mandatory coverage of plant-based medical cannabis products.

Resolution 2808 of 2022 was signed by the Ministry of Health and the Columbian government is fully committed with the use of medical cannabis as a covered treatment. The government used this iteration to also validate medical conditions where there is evidence cannabis is an effective treatment. The medical conditions include chronic and neuropathic pain, oncology pain, sleep disorders, epilepsy and fibromyalgia.

The announcement came as a boost to Toronto-based, medical cannabis provider Khiron Life Sciences (TSXV: KHRN) (OTCQX: KHRNF), which wholly owns and operates the Zerenia medical cannabis clinic network in Columbia. Khiron is a leading global medical cannabis company with core operations in Latin America and Europe.

With the passage, Khiron also announced the signing of a first-of-its-kind medical cannabis contract with the largest government-owned insurance company in Bogota, with more than 1.2 million insured individuals. Khiron will immediately start filling backlogged orders of now insurance-covered prescriptions.

This contract represents the first time an insurance company in Latin America has contracted for medical cannabis specific services and products.

Alvaro Torres, CEO of Khiron, comments: “Today is a great day for patients in Colombia and Khiron. We welcome the decision from the new Colombian government to categorically mandate insurance coverage for our medical cannabis products.”