Insurance Continues To Be A Challenge
Reps. Nydia Velázquez and Warren Davidson introduced the bipartisan Clarifying Law Around Insurance of Marijuana Act, or CLAIM Act, on September 16. The proposal would create a federal safe harbor protecting insurers from criminal prosecution and protecting insurers, brokers and agents from certain civil liability when serving legitimate state-regulated businesses. It would not require insurers to enter the market.
A Senate version was introduced in July by Sens. Ruben Gallego and Kevin Cramer.
This isn’t a new idea. Congress has repeatedly considered insurance safe-harbor legislation alongside banking reform without ultimately establishing the protection. The important 2026 wrinkle is Schedule III: qualifying state medical activity has moved into a different federal category, but adult-use activity remains Schedule I, so federal-state conflicts affecting insurers haven’t simply disappeared.
The House bill also directs the Government Accountability Office to examine licensing and financial-services barriers faced by women and minority entrepreneurs.
Banking gets most of the attention, but insurance is basic operating infrastructure. Property, casualty, workers’ compensation and other coverage affect everything from leases and financing to disaster recovery. Schedule III doesn’t automatically solve those problems, which is why Congress is still introducing industry-specific safe harbors.
