Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs recently signed Senate Bill 1677, which will permit both firefighters and certified peace officers to receive workers’ compensation to cover the price of MDMA therapy if they suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. The bill only takes effect if or when midomafetamine (MDMA) becomes federally legalized though.
According to the bill, the Industrial Commissions of Arizona would be directed to provide “reimbursement values in its schedule of fees and publish guidelines on billing and reimbursement practices for midomafetamine.”
If or when enacted, it would require the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to first approve MDMA, which would allow the workers’ compensation to be approved. However, the bill currently does not create any regulatory framework for MDMA therapy. “If an independent medical examination reveals a treatment protocol of midomafetamine is deemed a reasonable and necessary treatment and follows the treatment guidelines established by the Industrial Commission of Arizona, workers’ compensation coverage may include on complete course of a treatment protocol of midomafetamine as prescribed by a psychiatrist,” the bill stated.
Sen. David Gowan, sponsor of SB-1677, believes that MDMA will be beneficial to many people if it can be legally used in a therapeutic setting. “At the end of the day, it’s about saving lives hopefully, saving our first responders lives who are out there protecting us each and every day,” Gowan said in February.
At the time, three lobbyists who represented insurance companies, spoke against the bill. “If this treatment comes out, [and] it works, it will be widely adopted in the workers’ compensation system,” said lobbyist Marc Osborn. “But we just don’t know.” He added that using opioids for pain management in the early 2000s was a disaster, and recommended that legislators “take it slow, be careful.”
Another lobbyist, Mike Williams, made a …
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Author: Nicole Potter / High Times
