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Launching NLC’s National Opioid Settlement Dashboard: Focusing on Solutions

By: Sarah Minster

The National League of Cities (NLC) launched the National Opioid Settlement Dashboard in May 2024, providing insight into the level of funding that cities and counties can expect to receive from the national opioid settlement. A solutions-oriented tool, the dashboard estimates the total amount cities can expect to receive over 18 years and offers tailored investment recommendations based on their level of settlement dollars.

Background

This dashboard focuses solely on the $26 billion-dollar national settlement that resolved all opioid litigation brought by state and local governments against three major opioid distributors (McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen, collectively referred to as “Distributors”) and the opioid manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. under parent company Johnson and Johnson (referred to as “J&J”). The settlement awarded approximately $10 billion to participating local governments, with additional funds allocated to participating states. Cities must use the bulk of their settlement awards for opioid abatement and remediation.

Building off NLC’s work on how opioid settlements can advance city and county abatement, we created this interactive dashboard that estimates each municipality’s total settlement to the nearest $1,000. While this historic settlement was the first of its kind, several additional national opioid settlements were recently announced– they were reached with pharmacy chains and opioid manufacturers. We plan to update the dashboard with data from the other national opioid settlements in the future.

This research is part of a larger NLC initiative around Substance Use: Supporting City Solutions.

How to Use the Dashboard

  • Enter your name and email to access the dashboard page.
  • Type or select your state using the drop-down menu.
  • Then, type or select your city and county.
  • If your city and/or county are not listed, select “Not Listed” from the drop-down menus.
  • Click the CLEAR button to reset your selections.

Focusing on Solutions

This tool is intended to guide municipalities of varying sizes – with varying settlement amounts – in the decision-making process around how and where to spend opioid settlement funds. By sharing collaborative solutions, evidence-backed approaches, and innovative approaches to opioid abatement and remediation, NLC aims to support the public health and well-being of municipalities and their residents.

We organize opioid settlement investment recommendations and strategies into four categories:

  1. Collaboration: Strategies focused on cooperation, regional planning, and coalition building with neighboring cities, towns, and villages, as well as your county and state partners. As settlement payments will be disbursed over many years, cross-system collaboration between local governments – as well as community-based organizations – is vital to maximize impact.
  2. Research & Data: Recommendations that maximize the use of research and data to stay informed and track progress on the opioid crisis in your community. Promote transparency and accountability by publicly reporting the impact of opioid settlement investments.
  3. Treatment & Harm Reduction: Guidance for implementing evidence-based strategies to treat opioid use disorder and save lives. From purchasing harm reduction products and making them widely available to expanding supportive services for vulnerable groups, this section offers high-impact, shorter-term strategies to create positive change in your community.
  4. Prevention & Recovery: Strategies to engage key populations in opioid use prevention and education while supporting long-term recovery. By challenging stigma and partnering with community stakeholders, in addition to engaging people with lived experience, you can support sustainable investments and healthy communities.

Looking Forward

This national opioid settlement promotes treatment and recovery in local governments across the US. While no amount of money can fully address the harm associated with the opioid epidemic, strategic investments and evidence-backed approaches can spark change for the better. NLC is committed to supporting cities, towns and villages in the decision-making process around how and where to invest funds, and we aim to uplift success stories and innovative projects from municipalities of all sizes. With this National Opioid Settlement Dashboard, NLC is focused on solutions to champion the right investment approach for your community.

For more information about the data and methodology used for this dashboard, please reference the methodology document (PDF).

About the Author: Sarah Minster is a Research Specialist at the National League of Cities (NLC).

The National League of Cities (NLC) is the voice of America’s cities, towns and villages, representing more than 200 million people. NLC works to strengthen local leadership, influence federal policy and drive innovative solutions.