The Czech Republic Ministry of Health has announced that they will begin subsidising medical cannabis.

Starting in 2020, the government will begin subsidising payments for medical cannabis from public health insurance.

Medical cannabis has been legal in the Czech Republic since 2010, however, it was not covered by health insurance and the price of medical cannabis was not regulated. As a result, medical cannabis has been incredibly difficult to access since it was legalised almost a decade ago.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Health proposed to reimburse patients for 90% of the cost of medical cannabis products accessed through public health insurance. The proposal was passed through parliament on Tuesday, and in the new year, patients will pay hundreds – instead of thousands – every month for medical cannabis treatments.

The proposal stipulated that for most cases, subsidies will be limited to 30 grams of cannabis per month. Any more than that will have to be covered by the patient themselves.

Minister for Health Adam Vojtěch stated, “We consider this to be sufficient because today one patient consumes on average up to 10g per month. This was confirmed by the survey conducted among prescribers. However, in exceptional cases, on the basis of a proposal by the attending physician, after approval by the medical examiner, reimbursement beyond this limit will be possible.”

Source: Dailymail