Will the life insurance industry cover cannabis users?

By Annie Dudkiewicz

The legal cannabis market is expected to reach $ 43 billion by 2025. In the United States, as of July 1, 2021, 47 states have legalized cannabis, of which 19 states have legalized it for both recreational and medicinal use. This means that 43% of the adult US population resides in these states and that 5.4 million Americans will be registered as patients in medical cannabis states by 2025.

When you look at these numbers, the question that often arises is, “Will all these people be able to get life insurance?”

Photo by LightFieldStudios / Getty Images

Until recently, the use of marijuana was taboo and was neither supported nor tolerated by the health and life insurance sectors. Things have changed, research shows deeper insights, and customer behavior and demand have shifted.

The bottom line is – yes! Individuals can get life insurance for using marijuana and it may not even cost more. Of course, the final price and approval of the policy will depend on the insurance company and other factors that will affect the applicant.

RELATED: Insurers and Marijuana: What Do Clinicians Need to Know Next?

When an application is considered by insurers, a number of factors are considered:

  • old
  • Weight
  • Family history
  • Hobbies
  • General health and medical condition.
  • Physical activity
  • Sleeping habits
  • diet

So, in a way, marijuana use is just one of a plethora of factors that are under review. Life insurance companies are likely to dive in and ask how often and why cannabis is used, and what medical reason or condition it treats.

Health and Marijuana Use

At the time of marijuana use, judgment and short-term memory are impaired. Its use also changes people’s perception and can, for example, endanger motorists. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, marijuana can be linked to lifelong psychiatric problems and long-term health problems much later in life.

Frequency of marijuana use

Life insurance applications include questions about the frequency of the applicant’s marijuana use. This answer helps companies categorize health classes and determine life insurance rates. Occasional users can often qualify for non-smoking plans, but each life insurer sets its own parameters for occasional or infrequent users. This is important because smokers are usually offered more expensive tariffs.

Best states for medical marijuana dispensariesPhoto by CasarsaGuru / Getty Images

Life insurance tariffs for marijuana users

The end result or offers when applying for life insurance will depend on cannabis use or non-use, as well as age, gender and the level of coverage sought. However, life insurance offers based solely on marijuana use are increasing (twice or less per month for occasional users and more than twice per month for regular users).

Use of medical marijuana

Life insurance companies generally don’t really care about whether marijuana is recreational or medicinal in their resulting rates. But providers need to know the underlying medical condition that triggers marijuana use; this condition can also affect life insurance prices.

Apply for life insurance

Life insurers are now making tremendous efforts more than ever to reach potential applicants through a variety of approaches; many have integrated online platforms with or without further human interaction. They rely on applicants’ openness and take steps to ensure that all data is true and transparent.

Companies like Sproutt.com have streamlined all aspects of the application process by enabling both online and offline interactions depending on the party’s preference, offering a variety of options to choose from, and reducing the insurance company’s response time. Full disclosure for all applications.

RELATED: Why the U.S. Medical Marijuana Market Probably Wouldn’t Allow Smoking

However, transparency and the expectation of authenticity are required in both directions. Since it is very likely that an applicant with a history of medical marijuana use will be able to obtain life insurance, it is important that they are honest and precise about their history of use. The insurer is entitled to inspect all external documents when submitting an application. The responses to the application must match the medical history to validate the information provided. Medical examinations can also be requested, a prescription check can be carried out and even access to vehicle records. This is not just the case with marijuana users.

If warning signs emerge during this investigation – history of substance abuse, criminal record, moving offenses like DUIs – the rate is likely to be higher. In extreme cases, applicants can be rejected.

Legalization dictates services

Marijuana use is on the rise, legalization is imminent, and an increase in services that support recreational medical use. The insurance industry has made strides to accommodate these changes, not without research and monitoring of consumer behavior.

Nowadays the life insurance industry can adjust to this and will not leave recreational users and those who use it for medical purposes in the dark. Guidelines are available and depend on usage, behavior, frequency and reason as they are based on a variety of additional factors as applicants need to be open and accommodating.

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and was republished with permission.

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