DHS seeks addiction program funds
Asking for larger share of opioid settlement money
MADISON — The Department of Health Services is asking the state’s powerful budget committee to use more resources from incoming opioid settlement funding on prevention programs in the fight against substances like fentanyl.
The agency released its proposed spending plan for the $36 million the state is set to receive in fiscal year 2025, which puts more emphasis on educating young people about the danger of opioids and supporting the family and friends of those struggling with addiction, despite similar proposals being denied in previous legislative sessions.
The plan includes $6 million for tribal nations, $5 million for community, education and after-school programs, and $5 million for family support and resource centers, among other proposals. It also calls for $3.5 million for Narcan and $1 million for test strips that can identify fentanyl and xylazine, among other drugs.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul and DHS Secretary Designee Kirsten Johnson asked the Joint Finance Committee to approve the proposal in a Wednesday morning press conference, and that the committee allow for the funding to help not only those struggling with addiction, but also their family and friends.
“This is an issue that I know, as I talk to folks across the state, impacts people in every community in our state and it also impacts people in every community in the country,” Kaul said. “Making sure that we are doing what we can to turn the corner on this epidemic is critical. And these funds are going to play a critical role in helping with that.”
Johnson emphasized the need for more funding for community prevention programs, to educate young people about the dangers of drug use, and prevent them from starting in the first place. That proposal, in particular, has been rejected in previous proposals by the agency.
“The piece that I think the legislature has continued to remove is the prevention component which is critical to public health,” she said. “We really need to invest in prevention to prevent future deaths.”
The settlement is part of a $26 billion deal between opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson and distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson and plaintiffs.
The lawsuit alleged manufacturers of prescription opioids grossly misrepresented the risks of long-term use of those drugs for people with chronic pain, and distributors failed to properly monitor suspicious orders of those prescription drugs, according to court records.
Wisconsin and 87 local governments in the state were part of the litigation.
This is the third year the state has received funding from the settlements. The state received $31 million in its first release of money from the settlement in 2023, and $8 million for 2024.
In 2022, more than 1,800 Wisconsinites died of a drug overdose, and 80% of those involved opioids such as fentanyl, oxycodone or heroin.
Nearly 645,000 people died from an overdose involving any opioid, including prescription and illicit opioids, between 1999 and 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. States’ attorneys general and local governments have filed scores of lawsuits over the prescription drugs’ role in the public health crisis.
Fentanyl is particularly dangerous, and is often mixed into other drugs without the buyer’s knowledge. Because it can be lethal in very small quantities, the risk of overdosing is particularly high.
“The pandemic and then the rise in the prevalence of fentanyl has really changed the circumstances that that we’re facing. Fentanyl has been driving the overdose deaths that we are seeing,” Kaul said. “The kind of harm reduction measures we’re talking about, like getting a Narcan in the hands of first responders, has been critical to stop this from becoming even worse.”