Does Medicare cover medical marijuana?

Even though medical marijuana is legal in more than three-quarters of states in the U.S., Medicare doesn’t cover medical marijuana because federal law classifies marijuana as an illegal Schedule 1 controlled substance.

But Medicare does make a slight exception. Part D prescription plans can cover some cannabis-derived drugs that the FDA has approved when a doctor prescribes them for certain medical uses.

Does my state allow medical marijuana?

Even though the federal government classifies marijuana as an illegal substance, 38 states, the District of Columbia and the territories of Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands allow the medical use of cannabis products, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

Only Idaho, Kansas and Nebraska have no public access program, although Kansas enacted a law in 2019 that allows patients with a debilitating medical condition who encounter law enforcement to have as a defense a written recommendation from their doctor for qualifying CBD products. Nine states — Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming — don’t have medical cannabis laws but do allow certain CBD and low THC products, according to NCSL and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, better known as NORML.

Medicare doesn’t cover any of those uses even though they might be legal in your state.

What cannabis-derived drugs does Medicare cover?

Medicare Part D plans can cover two FDA-approved cannabis-derived drugs, cannabidiol and dronabinol.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a chemical component of the cannabis plant. The FDA has approved the medication, brand name Epidiolex, to treat seizure disorders associated with three rare and severe forms of epilepsy — Dravet syndrome, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and tuberous sclerosis. The majority of epilepsy patients for whom Epidiolex would be approved are children and young adults, according to the Epilepsy Foundation.