Medical Pot Dispensaries Lose Comp Coverage Ahead of Opening

Friday, June 30, 2017 | 0

Hawaii's workers' compensation insurer of last resort has canceled policies for seven soon-to-open medical marijuana dispensaries because the federal government still considers the drug illegal, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports.

The decision was made by a unanimous vote of Hawaii Employers' Mutual Insurance Co.'s board of directors, who feared that HEMIC would open itself up to "potential exposure for criminal liability" if it insured the dispensaries.

HEMIC's chief executive officer, Marty Welch, told the Star-Advertiser that "this was really simply a legal decision" and the board was "not providing an opinion or moral judgment on someone's use of marijuana or not." 

He also said the board was "certainly not taking a position opposed to the value of medicinal marijuana to treat certain medical conditions or chronic pain."

Rather, he said, the board had listened to the two independent legal opinions it solicited about the issue, which both expressed the belief that HEMIC could become exposed to liability if it insured the dispensaries. 

The move could further delay the dispensaries' opening dates unless they can quickly find another insurer to write workers' compensation coverage. Hawaii's eight medical marijuana dispensaries have been licensed to sell products since last July, but none have opened. The dispensaries were preparing to open this summer. 

HEMIC, Hawaii's state fund, handles the state's residual market, according to the National Council on Compensation Insurance.