Former Gov. John Kasich is teaming up with former Ohio State University President Gordon Gee, who is currently president of West Virginia University, to fight for what could be hundreds of billions of dollars in opioid settlement money.
Kasich is lobbying for hospitals to get a big portion of the money out of the national lawsuit.
Kasich says hospitals and health systems can use the potential settlement money to advance treatment for opioid abuse and reduce fatal overdoses. "We don't want to wake up one day and figure out that with the settlement money only 50% of it went to people who were providing the services," Kasich said.
A plan is pending that could allow more than 30,000 municipalities to get in on the money. Dozens of states, including Ohio, have raised objection to that plan.
Critics, such as Attorney General Dave Yost, say Kasich's new group is a dark money organization that focuses too much on one aspect of the opioid epidemic, ignoring others such as law enforcement.
