A selective contract is intended to make it easier to prescribe medicinal cannabis. The German Society for Pain Medicine wants to negotiate a corresponding contract with the AOK Rhineland/Hamburg.
Four years after the so-called cannabis law came into force, it was now time to further develop the regulations, explained Dr. Johannes Horlemann, President of the German Society for Pain Medicine e. V. (DGS) at this year's annual press conference of the company. The pain doctor points out that around a third of all applications are currently rejected by health insurance companies.
Bureaucracy makes regulation difficult
In addition to high bureaucratic hurdles, a prescription fails because in some cases the generally recognized standard therapy is not considered exhausted, according to the report by the medical journal. Indications such as non-cancer pain in young people are often questioned. In addition, in the case of a prescription, the mandatory participation in the accompanying study will cause additional work. The formulations in the corresponding legal text, which diseases are considered serious and whether therapy with cannabis promises improvement, are flexible and open to interpretation.
The DGS therefore approached members of the Bundestag, health insurance companies and experts in addiction disorders at the end of 2020 and identified the urgent need for action with regard to the application process and the discharge management of pain patients from hospitals. According to Horlemann, it was agreed that the complicated procedure was partly responsible for the undertreatment of numerous patients.
Model could be extended to all of Germany
Now the society for pain medicine wants to overcome the bureaucratic hurdles in the prescription of cannabis in a selective contract with the AOK Rhineland/Hamburg.
The selective contract should serve as a model. Horleman explained that the model could eventually be extended to all of Germany and referred to other statutory health insurance companies to participate. The aim of the initiative is to give patients with severe or uncontrollable symptoms a Cannabistherapie to enable timely and unhindered.
The contribution Germany: Selective contract to simplify access to medical cannabis appeared first Hemp Magazine.
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