Is Medicare going to cover CBD?

Health insurance coverage for medical cannabis, a potential game changer for medical marijuana operators and the cannabis industry writ large, remains a distant dream as long as federal prohibition continues.

That’s unlikely to change if a tweak to Medicare reimbursement rules proposed Friday goes through, as it would cover only a small list of hemp-derived products.

And CBD is not among them.

Speculation that government-subsidized health insurance could potentially cover CBD treatments beyond the sole Food and Drug Administration-approved pharmaceutical drug grew last week.

That was after Bloomberg reported the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services was considering covering CBD treatments for certain seniors.

Such coverage would be a potential boon for the $28.3 billion U.S. hemp sector, currently facing an extinction event when a ban on hemp-derived THC goes into effect in November 2026.

And it would also be a significant upgrade to Medicare policies, unveiled in April 2025, that specifically excluded cannabis products from coverage under certain Medicare plans, “as they are illegal substances under federal law.”

Pro-marijuana rescheduling advocate met with RFK Jr.

According to Bloomberg, the policy change came about after Howard Kessler, a billionaire financier and CBD advocate who’s also a member of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, met with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

It was Kessler’s Commonwealth Project that produced the video – reposted by Trump on Truth Social – suggesting CBD as a possible new treatment for seniors.

But the Center for Medicare Services’ proposal that appeared in the Federal Register on Friday may not cover any CBD treatments at all.

If finalized, the proposal would “state more precisely that cannabis products that are illegal under applicable State or Federal law,” including U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations, “are not allowable” for Medicare coverage, according to the Federal Register.

Only hemp seed oil, hemp protein powder, and hemp seed covered

That would leave only “hulled hemp seed, hemp seed protein powder, and hemp seed oil” potentially covered by some Medicare plans, according to the Center for Medicare Services’ proposal.

The FDA has repeatedly said that existing regulations for food and supplements aren’t appropriate for CBD, which is not an approved food additive.

Further complicating the picture is the looming ban on hemp-derived THC signed into law last month by President Donald Trump.

The closure of the so-called “loophole” in the 2018 Farm Bill redefines hemp to exclude hemp-derived THC – and also outlaws CBD products that contain 0.4 milligrams of THC or more per container.

Hemp advocates have said that the hemp ban, scheduled to go into effect in November 2026, effectively criminalizes most of the estimated $28.3 billion annual U.S. hemp sector.

There’s currently only one FDA-approved, CBD-based pharmaceutical drug. Epidiolex is still only available via prescription.