Partial federal government shutdown

HCA does not anticipate any immediate impacts to our services or disruption to provider payments at this time. We will continue to monitor the situation and share updates if anything changes.

State Opioid and Overdose Response (SOOR) plan

Opioids including prescription pain medication, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl—are causing a serious public health and community crisis across the nation. The State's response is further complicated by a concurrent rise in stimulant use and overdose. Each day about three people die of an overdose in Washington; thousands more struggle with dependency.

Opioid misuse and substance use disorder can cause serious medical, social and financial problems. Social determinants of health, such as economic and social conditions, continue to disproportionately affect BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other historically marginalized communities, which results in long-standing differences in health status, including behavioral health. Washington state is committed to addressing the multiple issues that worsen the opioid crisis.

What are the goals?

The Health Care Authority (HCA) joined with partners across the state to implement a State Opioid and Overdose Response (SOOR) Plan focusing our efforts on four priority goals:

Prevent opioid misuse
Identify and treat substance use disorder
Ensure and improve the health and wellness of individuals that use drugs
Use data to detect opioid misuse/abuse, monitor illness, injury and death, and evaluate interventions.
Support individuals in recovery

Note: for 24-hour assistance for substance use disorder or mental health challenges, call the Washington Recovery Helpline.

SOOR plan learning community meetings

The State Opioid and Overdose Response Plan replaced the long-standing work group meeting series with a series of learning community meetings in 2024. These meetings will serve the same purpose as the work group meetings.

The name changed because the meeting series has always functioned as a publicly held learning community. These meetings will still seek out to bring together state government leaders, tribes, academic researchers, health care providers, individuals with lived experience, members of the community, and anyone else with an interest in attending.

2025 learning community meetings

Date	How to join	Meeting materials
May 15 10 to 11 a.m.		Meeting agenda (05/15/2025)
November 20 11 a.m. to noon	Registration link	Meeting agenda (11/20/25)

Past meetings

2024

Date	Meeting materials
November 21	Agenda (11/21/2024)
September 26	Agenda (09/26/2024)
July 11	Agenda (07/11/2024)
March 28	No materials at this time
February 15	No materials at this time

2023

Date	Meeting materials
September 28	Agenda (09/28/2023) Meeting materials (09/28/2023)
May 11	Meeting materials (05/11/2023)
March 3	Agenda (03/02/2023)

Date

Meeting materials

September 28

Agenda (09/28/2023)

Meeting materials (09/28/2023)

May 11

Meeting materials (05/11/2023)

March 3

Agenda (03/02/2023)

2022

Date	Meeting materials
November 17	No materials at this time
September 15	No materials at this time
July 21	Agenda (07/21/2022) Meeting materials (07/21/2022)
May 19	Agenda (05/19/2022) Meeting materials (05/19/2022)
March 15	Agenda (03/15/2022) Meeting materials (03/15/2022)
January 20	Agenda (01/20/2022) Meeting materials (01/20/2022)

Opioid settlements

In late 2022, Washington State started receiving funds from settlements with companies that fueled the opioid public health crisis. The Attorney General’s Office is the lead agency for the settlements.

The state will use these funds to address the opioid public health emergency. Local governments will also receive funds and the state will have limited control over how those funds are used.

The Health Care Authority and the State Opioid Coordinator are named as leads for the administration of settlement funds, through the SOOR plan, the associated workgroups, and the executive sponsors. More information can be found on the Washington State Opioid Settlements page.

National Opioid Abatement Trust Subcommittee meetings

Regular meetings of the National Opioid Abatement Trust Subcommittee will be virtual unless otherwise noted. This meeting series is currently on hold since 2024.