By Jenifer D. Kaufman, Esq.
Kaufman Workers’ Compensation Law
A bill recently introduced into the Pennsylvania House of Representatives will strip away the rights of current medical marijuana patients by capping reimbursements, which would be a huge gift to insurance companies.
On August 4, 2025 Pennsylvania State Representative David Delloso (D-Delaware/Ridley Park) sponsored and filed House Bill 1766 for consideration in the upcoming 2025-2026 House session. If enacted, HB 1766 would amend the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act to require workers’ compensation carriers to reimburse injured workers for the cost of medical marijuana used to treat their work injury. Six other representatives are listed as co-sponsors.
At the most superficial level this bill sounds great. However, this bill would nullify Pennsylvania caselaw that already requires insurance companies to reimburse medical marijuana costs directly to injured workers. It also introduces a reimbursement cap which currently does not exist.
Yes, you read that right, Pennsylvania workers’ comp carriers are already required to reimburse medical marijuana costs for injured workers and have been doing so for the last two-and-a-half years! On March 17, 2023, Judge Covey of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania issued a precedential and final decision in Fegley v. Firestone Tire & Rubber (WCAB), 291 A.3d 940 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2023). The Court held that workers’ compensation carriers shall reimburse Claimants for the cost of purchasing medical marijuana to treat their work injuries so long as it is reasonable and necessary medical treatment. Failure to do so is a violation of the Workers’ Compensation Act that can subject carriers to economic penalties of up to 50% of the cost of the unreimbursed cannabis.
Fegley was a landmark decision. It was transformative and made Pennsylvania the sixth state in the nation where workers’ compensation carriers must reimburse the cost of treatment with medical marijuana. The court ruling received significant publicity at the state and national level (especially among cannabis-centered publications). I should know. It was my case.
As the attorney who litigated and won the Fegley case I am perplexed as to why HB 1766 was introduced when there is no need for it. Equally bizarre is that six other Democratic representatives are co-sponsoring this damaging legislation: Carol Hill-Evans (D-York), Jeanne McNeill (D-Lehigh), Tarik Khan (D-Phila), Tarah Probst (D-Monroe/Pike), Keith Harris (D-Phila), and Ben Sanchez (D-Montgomery/Abington). Two of these House Reps, Sanchez and Probst, have law degrees so you would think both would understand the concept of caselaw.
The most insane part of HB 1766 is that it would serve to cap and reduce reimbursements to MMJ patients, which would be a huge win for the insurance companies that fought against me during the court case. There is currently no limit on the amount that an injured worker can be reimbursed for their out-of-pocket medical marijuana costs. If the treatment with medical marijuana is related to the injury, reasonable, and necessary, and the worker has the receipts, full reimbursement of actual costs is made.
However, HB 1766 proposes limiting the amount of reimbursement a worker may receive to a maximum of $250/month and $3000/year. Anything over $250/month or $3000/year would not reimbursable. No rationale is provided for these rather low and arbitrary one-size-fits-all numbers which cannot be adjusted for inflation. The bill even goes further and permits insurers to reimburse “on at least a quarterly basis.” There is no rationale for this repayment schedule. Wage loss checks are required to be mailed at least bi-weekly and 30 days is generally considered the maximum time allowed for payments ordered by a Judge.
So this bill not only caps reimbursements, taking away MMJ patients’ rights, but punishes patients further by delaying what little payments they can get. One would expect such arbitrary caps to come from a legislator advocating for insurance companies, but not union-affiliated Democrats in the PA House of Representatives.
Workers’ Compensation Decisions issued by our Judges can be appealed to the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (WCAB) and then the Commonwealth Court as a matter of right. As a result, most changes to the workers’ compensation system are effectuated by court decisions, not state legislators. Legislation should be reserved for matters not easily addressed by courts, such as HB 760 which added a much overdue requirement that workers’ compensation carriers offer direct deposit of wage loss benefits.
Workers' Compensation Attorney
If HB 1766 were to be enacted into law it would have the perverse effect of taking away rights Pennsylvania injured workers using medical marijuana currently enjoy relative to medical marijuana reimbursement. Instead, it would harm the very workers it purports to help.
If Representatives in the PA House want to really help injured workers using medical marijuana, they should withdraw this legislation from consideration and contact the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association to learn what legislation would REALLY help injured workers and improve the workers’ compensation system.
Not only do I strenuously urge Rep. Delloso to withdraw this legislation and any co-sponsors to take their names off this terrible bill, but any online journals and news outlets publicizing this bill should tell the REAL STORY of what would happen to PA MMJ patients if HB 1766 becomes law.
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