Bloomberg Philanthropies commits $150 million to overdose treatment in jails and emergency rooms in six states

Bloomberg Philanthropies committed $150 million on October 20 to its Overdose Prevention Initiative, which aims to make opioid use disorder treatment available to all incarcerated people and in every hospital emergency department in six states.

Michael R. Bloomberg announced the commitment at the 9th Annual Bloomberg American Health Summit in Baltimore, according to the foundation's release. It brings the foundation's spending on the overdose crisis to $335 million since 2018.

Which states are in, and which are out?

The six states are Kentucky, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Washington and Wisconsin. Washington is new to the initiative; the release says the state has seen some recent improvement but still has one of the country's highest overdose death rates.

The foundation is concluding its work in Pennsylvania and Michigan, the two states where the initiative began in 2018. The release says the work there helped reduce overdose deaths and built infrastructure the states can sustain on their own.

What will the money pay for?

Medication treatment where overdose risk is highest. The initiative works with states to offer medications for opioid use disorder, such as buprenorphine, in prisons, jails and emergency departments, and it also promotes naloxone, the medication used to reverse an overdose. It helps states spend opioid settlement funds, the billions of dollars drug manufacturers and distributors paid to resolve lawsuits over the crisis, on treatment and prevention.

The release cites a 2007 study of people released from prison in Washington state, which found they were 129 times more likely than the general public to die of an overdose in their first two weeks out. It also cites a 2018 study finding that overdose survivors who got medication treatment in an emergency room were far less likely to die of a later overdose.

What results does the foundation report?

These figures are the foundation's own, and we have not seen an independent evaluation. According to the release:

• In 2024, overdose deaths in the initiative's focus states declined nearly 15% more than the national average.
• All prisons in New Jersey and Wisconsin now provide medications for opioid use disorder, and all 24 Pennsylvania state prisons provide buprenorphine.
• More than 75% of emergency departments in New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania began providing these medications, up from an average of 28%.
• More than half of U.S. states use evidence-based guidelines for spending opioid settlement funds.

An NJ.com summary attributed the 75% emergency department figure to New Jersey alone; the release gives it for the three states together.

What did officials say?

"The overdose epidemic continues to be one of the hardest public health crises our nation faces," Bloomberg said in the release. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, whose state is leaving the initiative, said, "We will build on this meaningful progress and keep doing this work until every Pennsylvanian has access to the care and support they deserve."

What can other funders take from it?

In our view, a planned exit is part of the grant. The foundation is leaving its two founding states while saying the work can continue without it, and local partners in any multiyear initiative should ask early what the funder's end point looks like and who pays after it. Losing a major funder hits small organizations hardest: the Urban Institute found that the smallest charities that lost government money lost a median 28% of their revenue; see our report on funding disruptions in 2025.