Jacob Bell
New Member
LANSING -- Health insurance was never meant to cover the cost of medical marijuana and soon, car insurance won't be able to be used to ease the pain of wreck-related injuries.
The state Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to prohibit auto insurance companies from paying claims for medical marijuana.
Some auto insurers have been paying for medical pot for pain relief for people injured in car accidents, said Peter Kuhnmuench, executive director of the Insurance Institute of Michigan.
"Absolutely, right out of the gate, companies started getting claims," he said, adding that some insurance companies covered the claims because the issue was not specifically addressed in the medical marijuana law.
Health insurance coverage is expressly prohibited in the medical marijuana law, but auto insurance was not anticipated by the authors of the bill.
But one of the authors agrees with lawmakers that it should be.
Tim Beck, one of the authors of the law that was approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2008, said he wanted to be transparent in his negotiations on changes to the law that are being considered by the Legislature.
"If we're going to negotiate in good faith, we have to be honest," he said. "And the intent was never to have insurance pay for medical marijuana."
The car insurance prohibition bill now goes to the full Senate.
Other changes are in the works for the medical pot rules. One would prohibit medical marijuana from being covered under workers compensation claims and another would require people to live in the state for a year before they are eligible to be certified by a doctor for medical marijuana use.
Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, said he heard from Michigan State Police about people renting a home in Michigan, getting a driver's license and a medical marijuana certificate and growing enough pot to take back to their home states for sale.
"This is not the sort of farmer we want to attract," Jones said.
Jones and state Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker, R-Lawton, plan to sponsor the legislation and hope to pass it this year.
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: freep.com
Author: Kathleen Gray
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: freep.com
Website: Mich. Senate works on bills to clarify pot laws
The state Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to prohibit auto insurance companies from paying claims for medical marijuana.
Some auto insurers have been paying for medical pot for pain relief for people injured in car accidents, said Peter Kuhnmuench, executive director of the Insurance Institute of Michigan.
"Absolutely, right out of the gate, companies started getting claims," he said, adding that some insurance companies covered the claims because the issue was not specifically addressed in the medical marijuana law.
Health insurance coverage is expressly prohibited in the medical marijuana law, but auto insurance was not anticipated by the authors of the bill.
But one of the authors agrees with lawmakers that it should be.
Tim Beck, one of the authors of the law that was approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2008, said he wanted to be transparent in his negotiations on changes to the law that are being considered by the Legislature.
"If we're going to negotiate in good faith, we have to be honest," he said. "And the intent was never to have insurance pay for medical marijuana."
The car insurance prohibition bill now goes to the full Senate.
Other changes are in the works for the medical pot rules. One would prohibit medical marijuana from being covered under workers compensation claims and another would require people to live in the state for a year before they are eligible to be certified by a doctor for medical marijuana use.
Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, said he heard from Michigan State Police about people renting a home in Michigan, getting a driver's license and a medical marijuana certificate and growing enough pot to take back to their home states for sale.
"This is not the sort of farmer we want to attract," Jones said.
Jones and state Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker, R-Lawton, plan to sponsor the legislation and hope to pass it this year.
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: freep.com
Author: Kathleen Gray
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: freep.com
Website: Mich. Senate works on bills to clarify pot laws
