Process begins this month for statewide opioid settlement payments

The office of Attorney General Maura Healey has announced that municipalities that signed up to participate in the statewide opioid settlements with the distributors and Johnson & Johnson should receive an email this month from settlement administrator Brown Greer with instructions about how to establish an account in the National Opioid Settlements Portal.

Through the portal, municipalities will need to complete and submit a Payment Election Form and a W-9 before payments can begin.

Depending on how quickly municipalities complete these steps, payments should be available to flow as follows:
• Distributor payment 1: June/July 2022
• Distributor payment 2: July/August 2022
• Johnson & Johnson payment 1: July/August 2022
• Johnson & Johnson payment 2: July/August 2022
• Johnson & Johnson payments 3-9: July 15, 2023 through 2031
• Distributor payments 3-18: July 15, 2023 through 2038

Municipalities may receive four separate payments in 2022 and two payments in each subsequent payment year. The Attorney General’s Office has published charts reflecting the estimated, maximum annual distributions to participating municipalities, by defendant and payment.

For more information, visit the AG’s website or consult the regularly updated frequently asked questions about the settlements.

To update or change the person(s) who should receive settlement information for your municipality, email updated contact information (name, title, email and phone number) to MAOpioidSettlements@mass.gov.