NY spending $192M in opioid settlement funds. How much will your county get?

About $192 million from New York's opioid legal settlement fund is now reaching communities statewide to support programs aimed at curbing record-high drug overdose deaths in recent years, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday.

The money is part of more than $2.6 billion in legal settlements secured by New York through its lawsuits accusing drug makers, distributers and pharmacies of knowingly flooding neighborhoods with opioid pain pills, which ignited an addiction epidemic that has killed more than 31,700 New Yorkers since 2014.

"But don't think this crisis is just measured in deaths," Hochul said during a media briefing in the Bronx, announcing the first-year settlement funding total.

"There are people living today among us who are still struggling," she added, noting those countless lives battling opioid use disorder are who New York seeks to save with the use of legal settlement funds.

The settlement money is supporting programs offering addiction treatment, housing and other health and economic services aimed at breaking the life-shattering grip of opioid addiction that plagues thousands of New Yorkers, officials said.

Additional settlement payments will be flowing to state agencies and local governments over the next 17 years. And New York is pursuing related compensation through various ongoing opioid litigation, including a blockbuster case at the U.S. Supreme Court this year centered on Purdue Pharma, the company responsible for OxyContin.

How much opioid funding will Finger Lakes, Hudson Valley get?

The initial wave of opioid legal funds in New York are connected to settlements struck between state Attorney General Letitia James' office and drug distributors McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health, and Amerisource Bergen, as well as drug companies Endo Health Solutions, Janssen and Allergan.

Opioid funds: Advocates irate in 2022 over Kathy Hochul secrecy on spending opioid settlement funds

According to James' office, the opioid funds going to seven Hudson Valley counties and the city of Yonkers totaled about $14.8 million, including:

• Yonkers: $383,563

• Westchester: $4,849,867

• Ulster: $1,297,278

• Sullivan: $994,752

• Rockland: $1,623,216

• Putnam: $624,087

• Orange: $2,732,413

• Dutchess: $2,307,560

And the opioid funds going to nine counties and Rochester in the Finger Lakes totaled about $9 million, including:

• City of Rochester: $390,917

• Genesee: $358,472

• Livingston: $404,886

• Monroe: $5,597,619

• Ontario: $781,352

• Orleans: $246,259

• Seneca: $230,743

• Wayne: $592,952

• Wyoming: $245,542

• Yates: $147,872

How is New York spending opioid funds?

A 21-member Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board, which includes front-line addiction specialists and other health leaders, has issued recommendations for guiding how the legal payouts get utilized in New York.

Local governments will receive their share of funds as plans are submitted for review by the state Office of Addiction Services and Supports.

At the same time, some advocates have raised concerns nationally that use of opioid funds could follow the misguided path connected to prior legal settlements with Big Tobacco, which saw some states plug government budget gaps as opposed to paying for smoking cessation programs.

Already, some debate has erupted over communities in other states using opioid funds for police gear not directly tied to addiction services, KFF Health News reported.

Last year in New York, some lawmakers and advocates slammed Hochul's administration for shrouding the initial wave of opioid settlement funds in secrecy, despite measures intended to promote transparency, USA TODAY Network reported.

Now, the status of settlement fund spending in New York is publicly available on the Opioid Settlement Fund Tracker on the state OASAS website, oasas.ny.gov.

According to the governor's office, some of the programs being funded in New York with the initial batch of payouts include:

• A scholarship program to support more than 300 people looking to enter or advance in the addiction services workforce.

• Transitional safety units, which provide funding for providers operating supportive housing programs.

• Recovery centers that support their work in reaching people in recovery with non-clinical support and recovery information.

• The establishment outpatient programs designed to address the need for integrated treatment, providing medication for addiction treatment (MAT) and other comprehensive health services in one location.

• Low-threshold buprenorphine services designed to facilitate same day access to medication for addiction treatment and addiction care management.

• Services specifically for people who use drugs in priority populations, including to support evidence-based harm reduction strategies and to increase access to low-threshold medical services.

• Expansion of services offered within the state’s Syringe Service Programs and Drug User Health Hubs, such as drug-testing kits, and funding for harm reduction supplies.

USA TODAY Network contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY spends $192M in opioid settlement money. How much for your county?