Market Changes Gather Interest From Carriers and Wholesalers, Prompting Distribution Agreements To A Larger Target Audience
MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / February 9, 2022 / Novus Acquisition and Development, Corp. (OTC PINK:NDEV), through its wholly-owned subsidiary WCIG Insurance Services, Inc., is a hybrid health insurance carrier and, the nation's first health carrier offering cannabis in health plans to recreational and medicinal users, describes breakthrough meetings with key decision-makers in the insurance industry at the ICMG conference in Miami.
Last week Novus attended the ICMG conference, a forum for developing business relationships and enhancing existing contacts with carriers and their wholesalers. Novus had many one-on-one meetings with the industry's top health insurance executives.
Our presentation, "How Cannabis Is Reshaping Health Plans With Personalized Healthcare Packages" and that there is an established national provider network of dispensaries that offer preferred pricing to policyholders, during the presentation you can visually see these executives' eyes widen in response to interest and engagement.
Certain topics that drew their attention and reformed their belief system, as recent changes in the landscape where precedence was set by several State Supreme Courts on the Compassionate Care Act. Stating, that employers are obligated to accept employees that use legal medicinal cannabis and should not be discriminated against in the workplace. Our presentation also covered:
- Rising Recreational Cannabis Taxation: Especially in California, taxation is as high as 37%. Then, once federally legal, there will be an additional 25% tax on rec cannabis, hitting the consumer with a 45% to 50% tax rate. Prompting recreational users in getting their state cannabis cards and joining our health plan to get the medicinal tax rate vs the rec tax which is 50% less.
- Opioid Settlement Framework:A consortia of State Attorney Generals, settling litigation claims with health carrier distribution networks with compensatory damages, rehabilitation, and opioid diversion programs, for example, utilizing Novus Cannabis MedPlan in their health benefits.
- Ever Changing Complexities of the Workforce: Wellness and rewriting HR policies that will be the newest metric that companies use to recruit and maintain quality employees.
- Combatting Illicit Weed Market: Using insurance as a safe alternative to combat the $4 billion illegal market that will prove costly to state law enforcement budgets.
After the presentation, we immediately came away with a distribution /transactional arrangement with a regional brokerage/wholesale firm Leb Insurance Group, which will be able to position Novus benefits packages on the leading Insurtech platform called Ease.
Ease's technology truly changed the nature of the industry on how consumer engagement will shift from complex, one size fits all, long-term insurance products to the ala carte of benefits that suites a fluid time and budget constraints for consumers.
In the partnership with Leb, we estimate 45 to 60 day configuration and we then begin a go-to-market strategy. Further meetings have been scheduled and we anticipate deals being struck in the near future.
Continued Expansion of Provider Network
Despite losing a few dispensaries through retail consolidation in Southern California, Novus remains strong with the ability to cover the entire state. We would like to thank the following dispensaries that are now a part of the Novus Provider Network:
Cannabis 21+:Four locations and delivery in Mission Valley, Sorrento Valley, Mendocino, and Palm Desert.
Nature's Care and Wellness: With one location and delivery throughout the entire state, this dispensary will be vital to Novus' continued expansion to its insurance member base in Maryland, where medicinal cannabis users grew 40% in the past two years.
Levitated Nebraska: This dispensary gives Novus the ability to cover all of eastern Nebraska, an up-and-coming state with ballot initiatives to bring recreational cannabis in November 2022.
Lightheart Farms located in Tulsa, with two new dispensaries, we estimate an unprecedented expansion of Providers that will service approximately the state's four million residents. By far the most active of any other state with 369,247 registered MMJ patients and 2,255 caregivers, which represents nearly 10% of the state population. Even with a 1% market capture, Oklahoma could be one of our most profitable states.
Conclusion
The success of the conference showcased our adaptability through unprecedented changes in the health insurance marketplace as consumer inclinations remain on the rise. On the political forefront, the last hurdle could be in April of 2022 with federal legalization and then comes more taxation.
While we believe that any increase of taxation will work in Novus' favor, through the inherent tax abatement of medical cannabis from health plans and that will support our ongoing growth and profitability.
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About Novus
Novus Acquisition & Development Corp. (OTC Markets:NDEV), through its subsidiary WCIG Insurance, provides health insurance and related insurance solutions within the wellness and medical marijuana industries in states where legal programs exist. Novus has developed its infrastructure within many lines of the insurance business such as health, life, and fixed annuities.
Novus' medical cannabis benefits package will work as outside developers and will not cultivate, handle, transport grow, extract, dispense, put up for sale, put on the market, vend, deliver, supply, circulate, or trade cannabis or any substances that violate the United States law or the Controlled Substances Act, nor does it intend to do so in the future and will continue to follow state and federal laws. The statements made about specific products have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease. All information provided on these press releases, or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional. Once a push notification is completed the transaction is solely between the state-licensed dispensary and the registered patient.
The state laws are in conflict with the federal Controlled Substances Act. The current administration has effectively stated that it is not an efficient use of resources to direct federal law enforcement agencies to prosecute those lawfully abiding by state-designated laws, allowing the use and distribution of medical marijuana. Changes in consolidation may affect the provider network. However, there is no guarantee that the current administration, nor any future administration, will not change this policy and decide to enforce the federal laws strongly. Any such change in the federal government's enforcement of current federal laws could cause significant financial changes. While we do not intend to harvest, distribute, or sell cannabis or cannabis-related products, we may be harmed by a change in enforcement by federal or state governments.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release includes forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and reflect management's current expectations. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. Some of these factors include: general global economic conditions; general industry and market conditions and growth rates; uncertainty as to whether our strategies and business plans will yield the expected benefits; increasing competition; availability and cost of capital; the ability to identify and develop and achieve commercial success; the level of expenditures necessary to maintain and improve the quality of services; changes in the economy; changes in laws and regulations, includes codes and standards, intellectual property rights, and tax matters; or other matters not anticipated; our ability to secure and maintain strategic relationships and distribution agreements. Novus disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Investor Contact Information:
855-228-7355
Email: info@getnovusnow.com
SOURCE: Novus Acquisition and Development, Corp.
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