Psychedelic therapy could be curbed by high fees in Colorado

Psilocybin facilitator students sit with eye masks on while listening to music during an experiential activity at a training session near Damascus, Ore., on Dec. 2, 2022. They are being trained in how to accompany patients tripping on psilocybin as Oregon prepares to become the first state in America to offer controlled use of the psychedelic mushroom to the public. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky)Lowering barriers to entry

One difference between the programs in Colorado and Oregon is that the laws here allow healthcare providers to integrate psilocybin therapy into their existing practices. (In Oregon, the businesses, facilities and staff must be separate duplicating costs for current healthcare professionals like Lafferty, a social worker with a private practice.)

Regulators created a micro-healing center license for those places that intend to host just a couple of psilocybin sessions per month versus specializing in that type of treatment. Advocates are adamant the micro-healing center license will lower the barriers to entry in Colorado and streamline access for individuals who already have a therapist or psychiatrist. During a rulemaking hearing on Sept. 16, however, they shared concerns that the currently proposed fees are too high.

In its draft rules, the Department of Revenue proposed micro-healing centers pay $3,000 for application and compliance fees in 2025, before ramping up to a cumulative $5,000 in 2026 and $12,000 by 2027. The phased increase in fees is intended to both incentivize early participation and eventually fund the agency’s administrative work overseeing the industry, regulators said.

Shannon Hughes is a social worker who currently offers ketamine-assisted therapy at her practice, An Enduring Love, in Fort Collins. She sees psilocybin as another tool in the behavioral health toolkit and hopes to integrate it once it’s legal. An Enduring Love gets calls weekly from people interested in trying it.

The most logical way to offer that option would be to obtain a micro-healing center license, Hughes said. But if she had to pay $12,000 per year to do so, “it would not fiscally make sense for our small practice.”

“I really don’t know anybody in the mental health community who that would be viable for,” Hughes said. “So I was disappointed and discouraged because you have to be a large operation to afford $12,000-plus in fees.”

It’s worth noting that all license types, including those for cultivation and manufacturing, will be subject to increased fees by 2027. For example, the latest draft rules dictate a standard healing center – meaning one that intends to specialize in psychedelic-assisted therapy – would be required to pay $6,000 in application and compliance fees in 2025, $8,000 in 2026, and $16,000 by 2027.

“There’s a concern that this current structure and approach will be an inoperable program,” Tasia Poinsatte, director of the Healing Advocacy Fund, said during the recent rulemaking hearing, citing challenges in Oregon. “If we set fees that high and discourage participation today, it’s going to make it that much harder to get this off the ground in the first place.”

Regulators plan to discuss licensing fees again at a meeting on Oct. 21.

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Originally Published: September 30, 2024 at 8:48 a.m.

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Publish date : 2024-09-30 03:55:00

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