A newly published study that investigated the effects of adopting a medical cannabis law on the cost of employer-sponsored health insurance in the United States found a correlation between medical marijuana laws and health insurance cost savings.

The study, “Measuring the Impact of Medical Cannabis Law Adoption on Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Costs: A Difference-in-Difference Analysis, 2003-2022,” was published in the Applied Health Economics and Health Policy journal.

In states that adopted a medical cannabis law, there was a significant decrease in the total premium per employee for single and employee-plus-one coverage plans per year, considering the first 10 years of policy change compared with states without such laws, the study found.

The study authors noted that focusing on just the past five years of policy change, there were significant increases in effect size and statistical significance.

“Under a hypothetical scenario where all 50 states adopted medical cannabis in 2022, we estimated that employers and employees could collectively save billions on healthcare coverage, potentially reducing healthcare expenditure’s contribution to GDP by 0.65 percent in 2022,” the researchers stated.

Doucette, M.L., Hemraj, D., Fisher, E. et al. Measuring the Impact of Medical Cannabis Law Adoption on Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Costs: A Difference-in-Difference Analysis, 2003–2022. Appl Health Econ Health Policy (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40258-024-00913-0