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Public Health chair details opioid-settlement grant timeline, previews ibogaine hearing and urges psychiatric-care expansion
Summary
House Public Health Chair Sam Creekmore told the committee opioid-settlement grant applications are open (deadline Sept. 19), that cities and counties are eligible for direct allocations, and that the committee will hold hearings on ibogaine and continue work to expand psychiatric-care capacity in Jackson.
Representative Sam Creekmore, chair of the House Public Health Committee, told the Select Committee that the state has established an opioid-settlement grant program and that the application deadline for the current round of grants is Sept. 19; 70% of funds in the AG'administered grant program support competitive grants, and a separate 15% share flows directly to cities and counties for local use.
Creekmore encouraged local providers and municipalities to apply for funds on the attorney general's website and said the awards can be used for capital improvements, scholarships and other programming. He noted that the total settlement amount is a moving target and estimated the statewide settlement roughly in the hundreds of millions, with funds arriving over the next decade.
On treatment innovation, Creekmore previewed a hearing on ibogaine, an internationally used compound for opioid addiction and PTSD treatment that remains Schedule I in the U.S.; he said Texas has advanced FDA trial approvals and Mississippi is exploring partnering on trials to serve veterans and people with severe substance-use disorders.
Creekmore and other health-panel members said they are pursuing options to expand psychiatric-care capacity, including reconsidering certificate-of-need rules that they say have limited psychiatric facilities; they urged coordination with Medicaid and noted Medicaid policy and funding are central to enabling residential mental-health models used in other states.
Committee members asked about eligibility for the opioid funds and whether nonprofits could apply; Creekmore said any entity may apply but nonprofits may score more highly in some categories. He also noted that a share of settlement funds will be presented to the legislature for appropriation in January.
