Bloomberg Philanthropies pledges $150 million to expand opioid treatment in six states
Bloomberg Philanthropies announced a $150 million commitment to provide opioid-use disorder treatment in prisons and emergency departments across six states, adding Washington to its existing program.
Since 2018, Bloomberg Philanthropies has directed $335 million toward combating the opioid crisis, initially focusing on Pennsylvania and Michigan. At the Bloomberg American Health Summit, the foundation unveiled a $150 million expansion that will cover six states—Kentucky, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Washington—targeting treatment in prisons, jails and hospital emergency departments. The program aims to make medications such as buprenorphine widely available to high-risk populations and to increase access to naloxone.
Pennsylvania and Michigan will transition to self-sustaining models as the foundation steps back. Additional goals include directing legal settlement money to treatment and expanding Medicaid coverage for postpartum parents in Kentucky and fentanyl test-strip availability in New Mexico. The initiative cites a sharp decline in overdose deaths in participating states compared with the national average.
Why it matters
Expanding evidence-based treatment in prisons and ERs could dramatically lower overdose deaths nationwide.
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