{"id":2142,"date":"2023-12-13T10:35:49","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T10:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=2142"},"modified":"2023-12-13T10:35:58","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T10:35:58","slug":"millions-in-opioid-settlement-funds-sit-untouched-as-overdose-deaths-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=2142","title":{"rendered":"Millions in Opioid Settlement Funds Sit Untouched as Overdose Deaths Rise"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nearly a year after Montana began receiving millions of dollars to invest in efforts to combat the opioid crisis, much of that money remains untouched. Meanwhile, the state\u2019s opioid overdose and death counts continue to rise.<\/p>\n

The money is part of the approximately $50 billion that states and local governments will receive nationwide in opioid settlement funds<\/a> over nearly two decades. The payments come from more than a dozen companies<\/a> that made, distributed, or sold prescription opioid painkillers that were sued for their role in fueling the overdose epidemic.<\/p>\n

Many places have begun deciding where that money will go and making payments to schools, public health departments, and local governments. South Carolina, for example, has awarded<\/a> more than $7 million to 21 grantees. Wisconsin has posted<\/a> two years\u2019 worth of spending plans that total nearly $40 million.<\/p>\n

Montana, West Virginia, and Hawaii are among the states moving slower.<\/p>\n

Montana began receiving its first settlement payments in January, and, by fall, payments totaled roughly $13 million. As of early December, the Montana Opioid Abatement Trust<\/a> \u2014 a private nonprofit created to oversee 70% of the state\u2019s share \u2014 had met once to agree to its rules of operation, and its money remained locked behind an inactive grant portal. The remainder, divided among the state and local governments, either hadn\u2019t been spent or wasn\u2019t publicly recorded.<\/p>\n

Those charged with distributing the money say they\u2019re building a framework to spend it in ways that last. Meanwhile, some addiction treatment providers are eager to use the funds to plug gaps in services.<\/p>\n

The tension in Montana reflects a nationwide push-pull. Those handling settlement dollars say governments should take their time planning how to use the enormous windfall. Others argue for urgency as the drug supply has become increasingly deadly<\/a>. More than 100,000<\/a> Americans died of overdoses in 2022, surpassing the previous year\u2019s record-setting death toll.<\/p>\n

Nearly 200 Montanans died of a drug overdose in 2021, the latest year state data is available<\/a>. That number, likely an undercount, is roughly 40 more deaths than the year before. Emergency medical responders have continued to record an increasing number of opioid-related emergencies<\/a> this year.<\/p>\n

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In Billings, the Rimrock Foundation, one of the state\u2019s largest behavioral health providers, has seen its number of clients with opioid use dependency more than triple since 2021. Like other treatment facilities, Rimrock has a waitlist, and addiction treatment providers worry about the limited community resources that exist for patients once they are discharged. \u201cThe result of not addressing this is a lot of deaths,\u201d said Jennifer Verhasselt, Rimrock Foundation\u2019s chief clinical officer.<\/p>\n

Debbie Knutson, Rimrock\u2019s medical unit and nursing supervisor, said there is widespread confusion about how and when the state\u2019s settlement dollars can be used.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very concerning if we have money available that we could use to help people that is just kind of sitting, waiting for somebody to decide where it should go,\u201d Knutson said.<\/p>\n

Rusty Gackle, the Montana Opioid Abatement Trust executive director, said a lot of work has happened behind the scenes to get local governments ready to accept their initial payments and for regional leaders to form systems to request money from the trust. That included hosting a series of town hall-style meetings to share information about the process. He said many of those local regions are still finalizing their governance structures.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to progress a little bit faster,\u201d Gackle said. \u201cBut I\u2019d rather do it right so that we\u2019re not having to go backwards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montana officials got a late start too, he added. Some states began receiving settlement dollars last year, but Montana was toward the tail end of the line.<\/p>\n

Montana is dividing its money three ways: 15% to the state, 15% to local governments, and the rest to the Montana Opioid Abatement Trust, with some money set aside for attorneys\u2019 fees.<\/p>\n

As of late November, the state hadn\u2019t begun spending the $2.4 million it had in hand for state agencies. Officials also aren\u2019t tracking how and when local governments spend their direct payments.<\/p>\n

Similarly, West Virginia and Hawaii<\/a> hadn\u2019t \u2014 by late November \u2014 begun spending the largest shares of their funding. In West Virginia, the makeup of the foundation board that will oversee roughly 70% of the state\u2019s settlement dollars was announced only in August, six weeks after the state\u2019s deadline<\/a>, and the board is now sitting on more than $217 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nationwide, state and local governments have received more than $4.3 billion<\/a> as of Nov. 9. How much of that has been used remains uncertain due to states\u2019 lack of public reporting. But from what is known, it varies.<\/p>\n

Colorado, whose spending plan is similar to Montana\u2019s but received its settlement money earlier, has allocated millions<\/a> toward school and community-based programs, recovery housing services, and expanded treatment services.<\/p>\n

Sara Whaley<\/a>, a Johns Hopkins researcher who tracks states\u2019 uses of opioid settlement funds, said a slower start isn\u2019t inherently wrong. She prefers governments take time to spend the money well rather than fund outdated or untested practices. In some cases, governments are building entirely new systems to dole out the money. Several waited until the courts finalized the settlement amounts and details.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are definitely states that were like, \u2018We are going to get money at some point. We don\u2019t know how much or when, but let\u2019s start setting up our system,\u2019\u201d Whaley said. \u201cOther folks were like, \u2018We have a lot going on already. We\u2019ll just wait until we get it and then we\u2019ll know what the settlement terms are.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Even once committees start meeting, it can take months for the money to reach front-line organizations.<\/p>\n

Connecticut\u2019s opioid settlement advisory committee made its first allocation<\/a> in November, eight months after it was formed. Maine\u2019s recovery council, which controls half the state\u2019s settlement funds, has been meeting since<\/a> November 2022, but just recently voted on priorities<\/a> for the more than $14 million<\/a> it has on hand and still needs to establish a grant application process.<\/p>\n

Tennessee\u2019s Opioid Abatement Council accepted grant applications this fall. Stephen Loyd, council chair, said the process \u2014 from picking awardees to processing payments \u2014 will take roughly six months. Within that time, he said, 2,808 Tennesseans are likely to die of drug overdoses.<\/p>\n

As an interim step, Loyd proposed at an October meeting to award $7.5 million to an emergency six-month initiative to flood the state with naloxone, a medication that reverses opioid overdoses.<\/p>\n

But his proposal was met with protests from council members, who pushed back on what they saw as a circumvention of the grant process they had spent months establishing. The council didn\u2019t vote on the emergency initiative but instead created an expedited review process to consider fast-tracking future applications.<\/p>\n

Gackle said he doesn\u2019t think Montana is far behind others. Now that spending systems are almost in place, he said, things should move faster.<\/p>\n

Lewis and Clark County, home to the state capital, Helena, has a yearlong plan and budget for opioid settlement funds. A cohort of 17 counties in rural eastern Montana defined its regional settlement decision-makers in November and, by early December, had yet to begin official talks about where the money should go.<\/p>\n

Brenda Kneeland, CEO of Eastern Montana Community Mental Health Center and an advisory committee member for the Montana Opioid Abatement Trust, said eastern Montana has one inpatient treatment center for substance use disorders and zero detox facilities, so emergency rooms end up serving as a fallback resource.<\/p>\n

Kneeland said local officials want to ensure they understand the rules to avoid trouble later and to stretch the funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t get an opportunity to try to correct such a wrong very often,\u201d Kneeland said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a huge job at a county level. I\u2019ve never seen an undertaking like this in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Montana Opioid Abatement Trust advisory committee will meet quarterly, meaning its next chance to review any submitted grants will be next spring.<\/p>\n