Cannabis businesses have spent years talking about their banking problem. Their insurance problem gets far less attention, and a new bipartisan bill in the Senate is trying to fix it.
Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) have introduced the Clarifying Law Around Insurance of Marijuana Act, or CLAIM Act (S.5049), filed July 21, 2026 and referred to the Senate Banking Committee. The idea is straightforward: create a federal safe harbor so insurers, brokers, and agents can write policies for state-licensed cannabis businesses without fear of federal prosecution or penalties.
Why insurance is a problem
Cannabis is legal for adults in New York and dozens of other states, but it remains a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law. That conflict makes mainstream insurers nervous. Many simply refuse cannabis clients, and the ones that do serve the industry often charge steep premiums through specialty markets. As Cramer put it, cannabis companies are "locked out of insurance markets" much like they've been locked out of banking, even though running any business means carrying real risk.
For a dispensary, cultivator, or delivery operator, that means paying more, and sometimes going underinsured, for the same property, liability, and workers' coverage other retailers take for granted.
What it would and wouldn't do
The CLAIM Act is narrow. It would not legalize cannabis federally or touch the Schedule I question. It only removes the federal threat hanging over insurers that choose to serve compliant, state-licensed operators. This is also the fourth Congress in a row a version of the measure has been introduced, and the text is largely unchanged, a reminder that cannabis reform tends to move slowly on Capitol Hill.
What it means for New York
New York's licensed operators are exactly the kind of businesses the bill targets: legal under state law, heavily regulated, and paying taxes, yet still treated as untouchable by much of the insurance industry. If the CLAIM Act passed, New York dispensaries and growers could expect more competition among insurers and, over time, lower premiums and broader coverage, freeing up cash in a market where margins are already thin. For now, it's a bill to watch, not a law. Cannabis products are for adults 21+.