Last week Mass Senior Care submitted written testimony in response to the Department of Public Health’s (DPH) proposed September 2016 revisions to 105 CMR 725.000 Implementation of an Act for Humanitarian Medical Use of Marijuana.
Mass Senior Care’s review of the proposed revisions identified several issues of concern to the nursing home provider community. These concerns include:
1) Conflict with Federal Law - Since marijuana is still considered illegal under federal law, it raises specific federal liability issues for long term care facilities and their staff who must be “registered” to provide medical marijuana to a Medicare beneficiary.
2) Lack of Operational Guidance and/or Clarification - The proposed revisions do not provide operational guidance and/or clarification to long term care facilities for the use of medical marijuana in their facilities, specifically guidance related to acquisition, storage, inventory control, administration, dosage and form of marijuana, observation, and disposal of unused marijuana; and
3) Potential Cost Implications/Administrative Burden for Long Term Care Facilities to Register as Caregiving Institutions and Register Employees as Institutional Caregivers.
Please contact Mass Senior Care Director of Regulatory Affairs Helen Magliozzi if you have questions about DPH’s proposed medical marijuana regulatory revisions.