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Nebraska is preparing to disburse hundreds of millions of dollars over the next two decades as part of a massive national opioid settlement from drug companies and distributors for knowingly flooding the market with addictive painkillers. But so far, that rollout seems to be slow going.
“We want to make sure we’re not just throwing money at the problem,” said Maryann Borgeson, chair of the disbursement committee for Nebraska’s Opioid Settlement Remediation Advisory Committee.
Borgeson recently released $10 million of the settlement money to various agencies to do a needs assessment on how the opioid crisis has affected different communities and populations. The funds are possible because Nebraska’s attorney general entered into several nationwide settlements. The payments will be made to Nebraska over 18 years.
“Our data will drive us to make those decisions as to where those dollars go,” said Borgeson, who is also chair of the Douglas County Board and has worked for county and state government for 30 years. “My passion is to make the best lives for the people who live here,” she said.
The committee of 12 local members and 12 state members had a public meeting planned in Kearney last week but had to call it off at the last minute when they did not have enough members to legally meet or vote. They needed 13 members, but because of no-shows, they had just 12.
“We’re watching to see how they’re disbursing it,” said Carey Pomykata, executive director of Coalition Rx.
According to the National Academy for State Health Policy, 17 states have already established spending priorities for the settlement money. Ten states have already awarded some funds. Nebraska is not among either group. Borgeson has reached out to officials from DHHS, asking for details on the funding.
In addition, Nebraska is in the process of setting up a website where they plan to have regular data showing the amount of settlement money coming into the state and how it is disbursed. The money will be disbursed by Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services after the committee approves requests. Most of the awards will be given through Nebraska’s behavioral health districts.
Other states, like Colorado, already have opioid remediation websites up and running with interactive maps showing how much money is allocated to each county and how much the county has received so far. Colorado also has a dashboard where data on awards are posted regularly with running totals. The state has already released $33 million to organizations working to mitigate the damage from these drugs.
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