43.86% Fund for a Resilient Nevada Share
Last updated
Nevada
Last updated
The state’s 43.86% share of opioid settlement funds is held in the Fund for a Resilient Nevada and appropriated to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS),[1] which administers the fund.[2]
Excepting several set-asides for litigation costs, attorneys’ fees, and administrative expenses,[3] the state’s share of opioid settlements must be spent on approved purposes,[4] which the state defines to mean uses that are consistent with ,[5] plus the national settlement agreement’s (non-exhaustive) ,[6] which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies.
State law requires that expenditures from the Fund be guided by a statewide plan based on a needs assessment that is developed by DHHS in consultation with its Office of Minority Heath and Equity.[7] State law also provides a non-exhaustive list of projects and uses that the statewide plan “may” include, such as expanding prevention, treatment, and recovery initiatives; programs to reduce the incidence and severity of neonatal abstinence syndrome; preventing and mitigating the harms of adverse childhood experiences; harm reduction services; housing for people with or in recovery from substance use disorder; substance use disorder provider workforce development; data collection; and capital projects, including construction costs, related to substance use.[8]
Department of Health and Human Services decides (in consultation with its Office of Minority Health and Equity). , in consultation with its , ultimately decides specific expenditures from this share based on a statewide needs assessment and plan.[9]
When conducting the statewide needs assessment and developing the statewide plan, DHHS and the Office of Minority health and Equity are required to consider recommendations submitted by the (ACRN),[10] in addition to the recommendations of “state, regional, local and tribal governmental entities in this State whose work relates to opioid use disorder and other substance use disorders.”[11]
Statewide needs assessment. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), in consultation with its Office of Minority Health and Equity, must conduct a statewide needs assessment at least once every four years.[12]
Statewide plan. The , established by DHHS in consultation with its Office of Minority Health and Equity, prioritizes actions identified by the statewide needs assessment.[13] The plan must allocate funds to approved purposes,[14] whether to statewide projects or as grants to organizations or regional, local, or tribal agencies.[15] Recommendations made in the are divided into categories: Data, Prevention, Treatment, and Social Determinants of Health and Recovery Supports. Each section categorizes recommendations according to the approved purposes identified by state law. Proposed budget allocations across the plan’s goals can be found .
ACRN recommendations. The ACRN must submit a recommendations report to the DHHS Director in each even-numbered year “concerning” the statewide needs assessment and statewide plan.[16] When developing its recommendations, the ACRN must consider health equity and racial, ethnic, geographic, and other disparities across the state,[17] as well as the need to prevent overdose, address disparities in healthcare access, and prevent youth substance use.[18]
Yes, supplantation is prohibited. Nevada state law explicitly prohibits monies from the Fund for a Resilient Nevada from being used to “supplant existing methods of funding that are available to state, regional, local or tribal agencies.”[19] This means that this 43.86% share must only be spent in ways that supplement — rather than replace (or “supplant”) — existing resources.
State law requires applications for funding submitted by government entities (regional, county, local, or tribal) and private-sector organizations to contain a needs assessment and grant plan that meet specific requirements in state law.[22]
Nev. Rev. Stat. Sec. 433.732(2). ↑
Nev. Rev. Stat. Secs. 433.738(2)(a)(1)-(4), (7), (11)-(13). This list of allowable statewide projects is non-exclusive. Nev. Rev. Stat. Sec. 433.738(2)(a) (“Statewide projects, which may include, without limitation”) (emphasis added). ↑
Nev. Rev. Stat. Sec. 433.734(2)(a)-(b) (“When performing the duties described in subsection 1, the Department and the Office shall consider: … [t]he recommendations of state, regional, local and tribal governmental entities in this State whose work relates to opioid use disorder and other substance use disorders”). Subsection 1 refers to DHHS’ and the Office of Minority Health and Equity’s statewide needs assessment and planning responsibilities.
Nev. Rev. Stat. Secs. 433.734(1)(a)-(b) and 433.720 (defining “Office” to mean “the Office of Minority Health and Equity). ↑
Nev. Rev. Stat. Sec. 433.738(2)(a)(1)-(14), (2)(b). ↑
Nev. Rev. Stat. Secs. 433.730(1)(a)-(b), 433.734(1)-(2), and 433.738(1). ↑
Nev. Rev. Stat. Sec. 433.730(2)(a). ↑
Nev. Rev. Stat. Sec. 433.730(2)(b). ↑
Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. Sec. 433.732(7) (“Money expended from the Fund must not be used to supplant existing methods of funding that are available to state, regional, local or tribal agencies”). ↑
Nev. Rev. Stat. Sec. 433.734(3)(a)-(f) (requirement that DHHS submit an annual report that describes “recommendations made and money expended” to the governor, various legislative stakeholders, the attorney general, and others). ↑
Nev. Rev. Stat. Secs. 433.740(1)(a)(1)-(2), 433.742, and 433.744. ↑
Yes (no public reporting required, only intrastate). View DHHS’ annual reports on its website.[20] DHHS must report details on expenditures to the Governor, legislative leadership, the Commission on Behavioral Health, and other entities each year.[21]
Visit OpioidSettlementTracker.com’s for an updated collection of states’ and localities’ available expenditure reports.
. (“State of Nevada Allocation: 43.86% to the State of Nevada”) and (“The State of Nevada’s share of Recoveries, after deduction of any remaining costs and attorney fees, shall be deposited in the Fund for Resilient Nevada through Senate Bill 390 (2021)”). Nev. Rev. Stat. Sec. 433.732(1) (“The Fund for a Resilient Nevada is hereby created in the State Treasury”), and Sec. 433.732(6) (“all money that is deposited or paid into the Fund is hereby appropriated to the Department to be used, subject to the provisions of of NRS, to carry out the provisions of to , inclusive”). ↑
See Nev. Rev. Stat. Sec. 433.732(1) (“[T]he Attorney General shall, after deducting any fees and costs imposed pursuant to an applicable contingent fee contract as described in , deposit in the Fund all money received by this State pursuant to any [opioid] settlement”). Sec. 433.732(4) and (capping administrative costs at 8%); Agreement and (describing litigation costs); (describing attorneys’ fees); and and (defining "Federal Government CMS Medicaid Costs" to mean “22.52% of any Recovery after deduction of the Lead Litigator Costs that may be asserted, and only if determined to be recoverable, against the State of Nevada's Federal Government Centers for Medicaid Services costs for claims” and describing the deduction of these costs as part of allocation). ↑
(“all Recoveries must be used for Approved Purposes”) and (defining “Recoveries” to mean monies from the settlements in of Nevada’s agreement, which ostensibly lists all possible defendants in the opioid litigation at large). ↑
(defining “Approved Purposes” to mean “only uses to remediate the harms, impact, and risks caused by the opioid epidemic to the State of Nevada and its residents, and are consistent with those uses required by Senate Bill 390 (SB 390) as enrolled by the 81st (2021) Nevada Legislative Session and signed into law by the Nevada Governor, or uses that are listed as an approved use for abatement purposes in any plan approved by a bankruptcy court that are not otherwise inconsistent with SB 390”). ↑
. Nevada Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), (see “Opioids Recoveries Approved Uses,” which links to each settlement agreement’s Exhibit E or equivalent of Exhibit E [Exhibit A for bankruptcies]). Accessed August 8, 2024. See also I.SS (“Exhibit E provides a non-exhaustive list of expenditures that qualify as being paid for Opioid Remediation. Qualifying expenditures may include reasonable related administrative expenses”). ↑
Nev. Rev. Stat. Secs. 433.738(1) (requirement for statewide plan) and 433.734 (requirement for statewide needs assessment). See . DHHS (“FRN … funding is guided by the required Opioid Statewide Needs Assessment Plan: ” and that “[f]unding will not be available for any activities not specifically identified in the Plan”). Accessed August 8, 2024. ↑
Nev. Rev. Stat. Sec. 433.734(1)(a)-(b) (“At least once every 4 years, the Department, in consultation with the Office, shall … [c]onduct a statewide needs assessment in accordance with ; and … [b]ased on the statewide needs assessment, develop or revise, as applicable, a statewide plan to allocate the money in the Fund in accordance with ”); Sec. 433.738(1) (describing requirements of statewide plan). See also DHHS: (“FRN … funding is guided by the required Opioid Statewide Needs Assessment Plan: ” and that “[f]unding will not be available for any activities not specifically identified in the Plan”). Accessed August 8, 2024. ↑
Nev. Rev. Stat. Sec. 433.734(2)(a) (“When performing the duties described in subsection 1, the Department and the Office shall consider: … [t]he recommendations provided by the Advisory Committee in the report submitted pursuant to ”). Subsection 1 refers to DHHS’ and the Office of Minority Health and Equity’s statewide needs assessment and planning responsibilities. ↑
Nev. Rev. Stat. Secs. 433.730(1)(a)-(b) (requirement for ACRN to submit a report to DHHS “concerning” the needs assessment and statewide plan required by state law for the allocation of funds from this share) and 433.064 (defining “Department” as the Department of Health and Human Services). See also . Mercer Government Human Services Consulting. December 1, 2022. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“The state’s Advisory Committee will prioritize recommendations from the Needs Assessment to submit to the DHHS, including feedback from the public and other stakeholder groups”). ↑
Nev. Rev. Stat. Sec. 433.734(1)(a)-(b). See also . Nevada Attorney General press release. February 22, 2023. Accessed August 8, 2024 (“The law requires the state to create a State Needs Assessment which identifies the critical needs for attacking the impacts and effects of opioids throughout the entire state, and a State Plan for prioritizing funding for the needs identified in said assessment. The law also creates a mechanism for the state, counties and cities to work together in developing county needs assessments and county plans that complement the State Needs Assessment and State Plan, therefore maximizing the use of the money from recoveries”). ↑
Nev. Rev. Stat. Sec. 433.738(1)(b). See also and . ↑
See, e.g., . ↑
