The Massachusetts company, which bills itself as the “first and only licensed provider for psychedelic health plan,” announced on Tuesday it would cover psilocybin assisted therapy in states that allow it.
Sherry Rais is the CEO and cofounder of Enthea. Enthea is a third party administrator of health insurance benefits. “Oregon, Colorado and other states have legalized psilocybin use. We expect more to follow next year.”
Enthea announced in January that it will cover ketamine treatment across the country. Last year, the nonprofit worked with Dr. Bronner’s to provide psychedelic-assisted treatment to employees through their employee health plan.
Enthea announced this week its plans to expand their standards of care, including adult use of psilocybin in combination with psychotherapeutic assistance. The company expects the change to be published to its provider networks sometime in the first three months of next year.
Enthea stated that the goal is to be able cover psilocybin assisted treatment by mid-2024.
Dan Rome, Enthea co-founder, chief medical officer and chief executive, stated in a news release, “We’ve been watching the potential benefits of Psilocybin Therapy since we founded our Company.” We are encouraged by the published results and what we hear from therapists. We are confident that this will be an important option in combating mental illnesses.
Enthea said that its services would expand to include other substances such as MDMA “as soon as they are approved.”
In 2017, the FDA designated MDMA as a ” Breakthrough Therapy“. The substance is now on Track for FDA consideration in 2019 following successful Phase 3-clinical trials published in Nature in September that showed that MDMA-facilitated talking therapy reduced symptoms among patients with moderate to serious PTSD.
In the same year, two other companies, Bennabis Health, and CannaCoverage also teamed up in order to provide medical marijuana coverage to their employees as part of workplace benefits . This perk is meant to lower out-of pocket costs for cannabis users.
Oregon, Colorado and other states are considering reforms. A California Democratic Senator said earlier this month that he will be submitting a revised psychedelics legislation next year with an Assembly Republican. is expected to focus on regulated therapeutic access for certain psychedelics.
The bill is more limited than the one that was vetoed by Governor Newsom this year. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who has touted the “profound therapeutic potential” of certain psychedelics for treating severe mental conditions but vetoed SB58 because it would remove criminal penalties for possession and cultivation before implementing guidelines for controlled access.
In Massachusetts, Gov. Maura Shealy (D), recently submitted a bill for the creation of a psychedelics Working Group that would study and make recommendations regarding the potential therapeutic benefits to military veterans from substances such as psilocybin or MDMA. Recently, campaign organizers in Massachusetts said that they believed they had collected enough valid signatures for lawmakers to take into consideration a psychedelics-legalization initiative. This is the first option before activists push to place it on the 2024 ballot.
has introduced a bill in Wisconsin by bipartisan legislators to create a pilot program for psilocybin in the state.
The first ever congressional hearing on psychedelics was held at the federal level on Tuesday. Testimony focused on how substances such as psilocybin or MDMA could aid in the treatment of military veterans with mental health issues.
Speakers at a recent Harvard University panel, which included former Department of Veterans Affairs officials and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials , agreed that psychedelics like MDMA and psilocybin have the potential to treat PTSD and reduce suicide rates among servicemen. However, they warned against unsupervised, hasty use of psychedelics, given their possible side effects.
The National Institutes of Health announced earlier this month that it is looking for proposals to develop psychedelics as treatments for substance abuse disorder (SUD).
Federal Health Agency Announces a $2 Million Funding to Develop Psychedelic treatments for Substance Use Disorders
Photo courtesy Wikimedia/Mushroom Observer.
The post Health Insurance Provider Will Cover Psilocybin Assisted Therapy in States where it’s Legal first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
