Warning: If you’re using dagga medicines, don’t hide it

This could be the year dagga and its related products start to fly high in South Africa. But, be warned: you better let your insurer know if you’re using any cannabis-related medicines or supplements, because if you don’t, you could find your policy cancelled.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his State of the Nation address last week that this year the government will “formulate policy on the use of cannabis products for medicinal purposes, to build this industry in line with global trends”.

Since the legalisation of the personal use of dagga in South Africa, the health supplement industry has embraced the use of cannabis products, especially its second most popular extract Cannabidiol (CBD) which is used to treat mild ailments such as pain and nausea.

The local cannabis industry is estimated to be worth billions.

But, at the Cannabis Expo held in Sandton recently, a number of business owners warned customers that some insurance companies could still view the habit as risky and non-disclosure could be costly.

Many users of cannabis-related health products – some cancer suffers, for example, use the compounds for pain relief – would not consider themselves “drug” users in the commonly accepted use of the term and might, therefore, not believe they have to declare such usage to their insurers.

Insurance company Sanlam confirmed that for some of its products, non-disclosure of cannabis use could affect a claim.

This after insurer Liberty last year told The Weekend Witness if non-disclosure was uncovered and a history of cannabis use was detected, this could result in a client losing out on a claim.

Chief medical officer for Sanlam, Dr Marion Morkel, said while any claim would be assessed on its merits and general exclusions on substance use would still apply to a client’s specific plan, the company had always required disclosure of cannabis use.

“Failure to disclose substance use may impact underwriting, but as you can see there are a number of considerations that come into play,” she said.

Given the Constitutional Court ruling, added Morkel, Sanlam recognised that the personal use of cannabis was not a criminal offence, but had not given clarity on how much cannabis could be used and what the age restrictions were.

According to Morkel, Sanlam had always applied a scientific, rational and fair approach in underwriting substance use and this remained unchanged in the context of cannabis.

The company said it underwrites based on frequency of use; history of any addiction and treatment thereof; use of a single substance in combination with other substances; a person’s age; occupation; the financial services products being applied for and existing medical conditions that may impact the use of the substance.

Though the Cancer Association of South Africa did not endorse cannabis smoking or the medical use of the plant, health specialist Professor Michael Herbst said he doubted it would be legal to exclude cannabis users from medical insurance.

“Nothing has crossed my desk which could indicate that someone may lose out on insurance should they be found to have consumed one or other cannabis product. My take is that it would be unlawful to have a ruling like that,” he said.

But those on medical aid need not worry about cannabis use affecting their benefits, according to the Council for Medical Schemes. Medical schemes are regulated by the Medical Schemes Act 131 of 1998.

According to customer relations officer at the council, Silindubuhle Mnqeta, a medical scheme may only exclude cover for pre-existing health conditions such as hypertension, asthma and hyperlipidaemia under certain circumstances.

“For example, a 12-month condition specific waiting period may be applied to a pre-existing condition if a member never belonged to a medical scheme or had a lapse in medical scheme cover for more than 90 days,” said Mnqeta.

In addition, as medical schemes were not supposed to risk rate, benefits could not be declined based on matters that did not comply with the Medical Schemes Act.

– simnikiweh@citizen.co.za

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