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Montana hospitals push back on lawmakers’ push to examine tax-exempt status

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Category: Montana News
  • Big Medicine
  • Legislature

Legislature wants more information on how healthcare gives back to Treasure State communities

January 29, 2023
MainStreetMontana.com
BY: 
DARRELL EHRLICK 
DailyMontanan.com
     

 A conversation between Rep. Ed Stafman, D-Bozeman (left) and Duane Preshinger of the Montana Hospital Association over the reporting of community contributions given in exchange for tax-exempt status and House Bill 45 on Jan. 25, 2023 (Photo by Montana Public Affairs Network).

 Montana lawmakers on Wednesday asked a seemingly straightforward question of hospitals: What do we get for $146 million?

That’s the amount of tax breaks given to nonprofit hospitals in the state that are granted that status and do not pay many taxes. Within that same year, hospitals reported nearly $250 million of value and services to the communities in which they are located.

But lawmakers are wondering how the hospitals arrive at that number, and if the tax exemption truly justifiable.

A bill being sponsored by Rep. Bob Keenan, R-Bigfork, would add new reporting guidelines to the information that hospitals routinely provide to the state. House Bill 45 would expand the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Service’s oversight so that it could assess whether hospitals are justifying their nonprofit or not-for-profit status, which gives them tax breaks from the state.

Currently, federal tax law requires the nonprofit and not-for-profit hospitals to report their charity care on certain forms of the tax return. However, state officials point out that while they’re responsible for requiring the report, there are no standards, and if a hospital reports less charitable benefit than its tax benefit, nothing is done about it. This change would allow the state to look more carefully and determine if the large tax break was justifiable.

Hospitals say they’re fine with providing the same information that they provide to the federal government, but the problem is that the state looks to create more reporting and that may become burdensome or intrusive. Advocates for the hospital say that the bureaucratic DPHHS would be the agency deciding on the reasonability of the charity care, not the lawmakers.

Employees for the DPPHS, which has requested the bill, say that federal tax returns simply report the total amount of charity care or programming a healthcare organization provides.

“Those give us a high level overview of the aggregate amount, but we may want to look at the detail,” said Brenton Craggs, information and regulatory affairs coordinator with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.

What can be counted as community benefit can also vary. For example, Bob Olsen, interim chief executive at the Montana Hospital Association, said many for-profit hospitals would not consider establishing an emergency department or behavioral health because they operate at a loss. So the losses in those departments often are reported as part of the community benefit.

However, some of the benefit can be outreach events and items such as community gardens, which more indirectly provide health benefits. Some, like St. Peter’s Health in Helena, sponsored and paid for playground equipment.

This issue was first brought up by the interim Legislative Audit Committee, which accepted a report from the Legislative Audit Division that showed that overall, hospitals had reported more in community benefit than they had received in tax breaks. But the audit noted that reporting standards were still inconsistent and not every organization reported giving back more than it took in.

The Montana Hospital Association said it has been working with hospitals to provide guidance and policies for what counts to help make the reporting more uniform.

U.S. House GOP takes aim at fake pills containing deadly fentanyl sold on social media Jan 26, 2023

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Category: Montana News


MainStreetMontana.com
BY: 
ASHLEY MURRAY 
DailyMontanan.com

 
     

 The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, led by Washington Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, held a roundtable on Jan. 25, 2023, on the role of social media platforms in the sale of illicit drugs, specifically fentanyl-laced drugs. (Photo by Ashley Murray of States Newsroom).

 

WASHINGTON — On a June 2020 morning, Amy Neville entered her son’s bedroom to wake him for an orthodontist appointment.

Fourteen-year-old Alex didn’t wake up.

He died of fentanyl poisoning after taking a counterfeit pill he bought from someone he met on Snapchat, Neville told GOP lawmakers Wednesday during a roundtable discussion of the role “Big Tech” plays in the staggering number of fentanyl overdose deaths in the United States, particularly among minors.

“Through this app, Alex was able to overcome the natural limits that keep most kids from the hardest drugs,” the San Diego mother testified. “The natural limits include a supportive family, a good school, a strong community and other safeguards we knew to provide … Social media, however, transcends these natural limits.”

During the three-hour discussion, Republicans on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee took aim on multiple fronts, including legal immunity granted to technology companies, and the flow of synthetic opioids, like fake pills laced with illicit fentanyl, entering the U.S. at the Southwest border. The event was organized by the Republican majority, and was not a formal congressional hearing.

 

Drug overdoses top 100,000

 

Drug overdose deaths reached a grim milestone in November 2021, topping over 100,000 deaths annually. The pace has continued, with synthetic opioids as the main driver of overdose fatalities, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Lawmakers and invited guests, including Neville, criticized technology companies, singling out Snapchat, for allowing illicit drug transactions involving minors to occur over social media platforms and online marketplaces.

“Big tech has many problems, but the lethal fentanyl sales is not a general big tech problem, it’s a Snap-specific problem. Snap’s product is designed specifically to attract both children and illicit adult activity,” said Carrie Goldberg, of the Brooklyn-based law firm C.A. Goldberg PLLC.

The firm filed suit against Snap Inc., in October on behalf of nine families whose children experienced fentanyl poisoning after accessing it via Snapchat, eight of whom died, including Alex Neville.

“… It’s the only app that’s aimed at children where parents cannot see the content, yet Snap still wants parents to be responsible for what their kids do on it,” she continued.

Goldberg highlighted Snapchat’s disappearing message and geo-location features as facets of the app that allow drug dealers to target minors and evade law enforcement.

Not so, said a representative of Snap.

The company says it’s made “significant operational improvements” to detect and remove drug dealers from the platform, and it has added new layers of protection for users ages 13 to 17, including a new parental tool called Family Center, which allows parents to see their teens’ Snapchat content.

“We are committed to doing our part to fight the national fentanyl poisoning crisis, which includes using cutting-edge technology to help us proactively find and shut down drug dealers’ accounts,” a Snap spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday.

“We block search results for drug-related terms, redirecting Snapchatters to resources from experts about the dangers of fentanyl. We continually expand our support for law enforcement investigations, helping them bring dealers to justice, and we work closely with experts to share patterns of dealers’ activities across platforms to more quickly identify and stop illegal behavior. We will continue to do everything we can to tackle this epidemic, including by working with other tech companies, public health agencies, law enforcement, families and nonprofits,” the statement continued.

 

Continued appeals to Congress

 

Goldberg previously testified in front of the committee, when Democrats held the reins in December 2021, for a hearing to “hold Big Tech accountable” by amending Section 230.

Section 230, part of U.S. communications law since the mid-1990s, generally shields social media platforms from legal liability for what is posted on their sites by third parties.

Republicans and Democrats alike have pushed, with little success, to amend the law.

Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both spoken out against the law.

Dozens of legislative proposals to change Section 230 fizzled during the last two sessions of Congress, including legislation spearheaded by then longtime Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman Mike Doyle, who led the Communications and Technology Subcommittee.

Republicans have largely slammed big social media platforms for what they view as unfair content moderation, including banning the profiles of former President Donald Trump. Snapchat banned Trump in January 2021.

Meta, Facebook’s parent company, announced Wednesday it will reinstate the former president’s Facebook and Instagram profiles in the coming weeks following a two-year ban.

 

Legislation on drug classification

 

With little agreement on how to regulate content moderation by social media companies, GOP leaders of Energy and Commerce’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee on Tuesday reintroduced the HALT Fentanyl Act, which aims for stricter classification of illicit synthetic fentanyl-related substances under the Controlled Substances Act.

Illicit fentanyl that enters the U.S. drug supply is widely manufactured in Mexico using precursor chemicals from Asia. The synthetic opioid is significantly more potent than heroin.

A February 2022 Government Accountability Office report on drug and human trafficking highlighted the use of social media and e-commerce platforms for drug traffickers.

According to a Drug Enforcement Agency analysis last year, six out of 10 fentanyl-laced fake pills contain a lethal dose of the synthetic opioid.

Officials seized 14,700 pounds of illicit fentanyl in 2022, with the vast majority coming into the U.S. via land border crossings, according to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

Wednesday’s roundtable, led by Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, also featured Laura Marquez-Garrett, attorney with the Social Media Victims Law Center, and Spokane County, Washington, Sheriff John Nowels.

Assault on Bureau of Indian Affairs officer sends Pryor man to prison for five years

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Category: Montana News
  • Pryor
  • US Attorney

Thursday, January 26, 2023

 

BILLINGS — A Pryor man who admitted to his role in assaulting a Bureau of Indian Affairs officer as he was responding to a report of a stolen vehicle in Lodge Grass, on the

Crow Indian Reservation, was sentenced today to a mandatory minimum five years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

Darnell Lee Not Afraid, 38, pleaded guilty in September 2022 to possession of a firearm in furtherance of assault on a federal officer, a crime of violence.

U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.

The government alleged in court documents that on March 14, 2021, BIA officers, while in the course of their official duties, were pursuing Not Afraid, who was driving a stolen truck at high speeds through residential neighborhoods in Lodge Grass. Not Afraid eventually stopped, got out of the truck and ran away. The officer pursued on foot into a residential yard and drew his Taser. As the officer neared Not Afraid, Not Afraid turned toward the officer, pulled up his shirt and grabbed a silver revolver from his waistband. The officer dropped his Taser, drew his service pistol and fired multiple times at Not Afraid, striking him at least once in the arm. An angry crowd of people, who had been watching the chase, accosted the officer, yelling and cursing at him. The crowd was angry at the officer for shooting Not Afraid and prevented the officer from attending to him.  

Co-defendant Earl Landon Old Chief, Jr., is pending sentencing for conviction in the case. A third co-defendant, Darwyna Caylynn Catherine Bullshows, was sentenced to time served for conviction in the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Harper Suek prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI.

Texas woman admits lying regarding whereabouts of son, grandson in Sanders County parental interference investigation

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Category: Montana News
  • Sanders County

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

 MISSOULA — A Texas woman today admitted to lying to law enforcement about the whereabouts of her son and grandson, who ultimately were found in Costa Rica, during an investigation into parental interference in Sanders County, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

Candace Kathleen Bright, 68, of Midland, Texas, pleaded guilty to false statements during a video court appearance from Midland, Texas. Bright faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen DeSoto presided. A sentencing date was set for May 31  before U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Bright was released pending further proceedings.

The government alleged in court documents that on Aug. 19, 2021, Bright’s son and co-defendant, Jacob Israel Strong, failed to return his son, who was four years old, to his ex-wife at the end of his visitation. Sanders County Sheriff’s deputies were unable to locate Strong or his son. Sanders County charged Strong on Aug. 31, 2021 with felony parental interference. The FBI opened an investigation to assist Sanders County in the search for Strong and the child. The FBI interviewed Bright on a few occasions, including on Oct. 4, 2021 in which the agent told Bright that lying to a federal officer is a crime. Bright responded, “I know.” The government further alleged that Bright repeatedly lied to the agent, telling him she did not know where Strong and her grandson were and had not seen them since approximately Aug. 17, 2021. In December 2021, Bright called the case agent and continued to deny knowing where Strong and her grandson were located.

In January 2022, the FBI learned that Strong and his son had left the United States near Midland, Texas, in approximately October 2021 and drove through Mexico to Costa Rica. The FBI also learned that Bright had been traveling with Strong and her grandson off and on since August. Bright was aware of Strong’s whereabout during all of her conversations with the FBI and was physically present when Strong and her grandson left Texas for Costa Rica. Bright communicated with Strong regularly using encrypted messaging services installed on both of their cellular phones. Bright’s lies to the FBI contributed to the time and expense of the search for Strong and his son. Had Bright been honest with the FBI, Strong and his son likely would have been found in the fall of 2021. Instead, based largely on Bright’s false statements, Strong was not arrested until May 22, 2022, nine months after he absconded with his son. Strong has pleaded not guilty to charges in the case and is pending trial.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Racicot and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Lowney are prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the FBI.

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