German Cannabis Business Association
Statement: BPC criticizes exclusion of cannabis flowers from statutory health insurance reimbursement
2026-05-20 | The German Association of Pharmaceutical Cannabinoid Companies (BPC) rejects the planned removal of cannabis flowers from statutory health insurance reimbursement as part of the GKV contribution stabilization law (GKV-BStabG). The draft bill provides for limiting reimbursement entitlement to extracts and finished medicinal products. The BPC warns that this would exclude seriously ill patients from access to necessary therapies. The assumption that extracts and flowers are equivalent is medically untenable, as the rapid onset of action during pain peaks can only be achieved through inhalation. In addition, the association refers to the entourage effect of the entire plant. Legally, the exclusion violates requirements of the Federal Administrative Court regarding individual case assessments. According to BfArM data, the addiction potential under medical supervision is minimal. Economically, additional costs could arise due to more expensive finished medicinal products or treatment discontinuations. The BPC therefore calls for maintaining reimbursement eligibility in order to secure patient care and therapeutic freedom.
STATEMENT
Professional associations welcome G-BA decision on the prescription of medicinal cannabis
Berlin, 06/24/2024 | In its decision last Thursday, the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) determined that medical prescriptions of medical cannabis for many relevant specialist groups should no longer be subject to approval by the health insurance fund in future. A total of 16 specialist and specialty designations as well as five additional designations, including general medicine, internal medicine, neurology, psychiatry, sleep medicine and special pain medicine, are included in this regulation. The Alliance of Cannabis Specialist Associations expressly welcomes this development: “The G-BA’s decision paves the way for a more efficient use of resources for medical cannabis treatment, but above all it represents an enormous step towards better, less complicated patient care with significantly reduced administrative effort. Various information formats and prescription aids are now being developed within the associations. This should help to raise awareness of the fact that cannabis prescriptions will be much less bureaucratic in many cases in the future and to dispel existing reservations about treatment with medicinal cannabis in the long term.
Despite the elimination of the obligation to submit an application to the health insurance fund, the specialist groups considered still have the option of applying to the health insurance fund for approval of cost coverage in the event of uncertainties in the prescription. The G-BA does not intend to restrict the removal of the reservation to certain indications. Unless the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) raises any legal objections within two months, the decision will come into force upon publication in the Federal Gazette.
Comprehensive range of information to increase willingness to prescribe
The G-BA will monitor the effects of the removal of the approval requirement on the reality of supply over the next 15 months. The alliance of cannabis associations hopes that this decision will lead to a more active discussion of the treatment option of medicinal cannabis, including among doctors who were previously critical of the very complex and bureaucratic prescription with reimbursement option. The aim is to provide patients with nationwide access to medically supervised cannabis therapy: In the past, the reservations of many practitioners about medical cannabis were also associated with the time-consuming application process to the health insurance company. Now, the decision-making authority largely lies exclusively with doctors. The Alliance considers this to be the right development in the interests of patients. Basic requirements such as the presence of a serious illness and other conditions set out in SGB V for a cannabis prescription continue to apply.
Further information, an overview of the relevant specialist groups and additional designations as well as the entire text of the resolution can be found here.
2026-05-18 | The Association of Cannabis-Supplying Pharmacies (VCA) sharply criticized the plans of the federal government to remove cannabis flowers from statutory health insurance reimbursement within the framework of the GKV contribution stabilization law, according to Deutsche Apotheker Zeitung. According to a statement by the association, this project endangers the care of seriously ill and treatment-resistant patients, while the actual goal – saving costs and combating misuse through online portals – would not be achieved. Since prescriptions through such portals are usually issued as private prescriptions, the removal of reimbursement would only affect those patient groups dependent on reimbursable therapy.
VCA managing director Christiane Neubaur emphasized that such a decision represents a “step backward” and could once again push affected individuals toward home cultivation or the black market. In doing so, the CDU would contradict its own political line from 2016, when under then Health Minister Hermann Gröhe (CDU) a legal and reimbursable access route had been deliberately established. In order to specifically address misuse through online platforms, the association is currently having its own reform proposal developed by a Frankfurt law firm. This proposal provides for a risk-adapted model differentiating between various potency levels and ensuring professionally supervised dispensing in pharmacies in order to maintain patient protection.
