LIBBY, Mont. — Residents impacted by last December’s flooding and windstorms had the opportunity to get answers Monday as the Montana State Auditor’s Office hosted an open house in Libby.

The event was aimed at helping homeowners across Libby, Troy and the surrounding areas surrounding in Lincoln County navigate insurance claims and recovery efforts following the severe weather that caused widespread damage.

Staff from the Montana State Auditor’s Office were on hand to answer questions from residents dealing with property and casualty insurance claims tied to the storms.

“People here in Libby and Troy and all across Lincoln County were victims of these horrible weather events that we’ve had,” said David Sanders, chief of staff for the Montana State Auditor’s Office. “A lot of people had property and casualty claims on their homes.”

According to the Auditor’s Office, consumer protection and education are key components of the recovery process.

In addition to speaking directly with residents, officials also met with community leaders and toured damaged areas to better understand the impact of the storms.

“We just wanted to make sure that we could pull people together and show them that they are not alone,” Sanders said. “The state government can help them with some of the information they require to put their lives back together.”

The Montana State Auditor’s Office says events like this help connect residents with valuable resources as communities continue to recover from natural disasters.

Residents are encouraged to contact the office directly for additional insurance guidance.

HELENA, Mont. — Montana State Auditor and Insurance Commissioner James Brown announced his office has uncovered a multi-million-dollar health care fraud scheme that targeted vulnerable members of Montana’s tribal communities, saving a state insurer and its customers more than $23.3 million.

Brown said the scheme involved recruiters who lured Native Americans from Montana reservations to so-called treatment centers in California by offering free, luxury rehabilitation. Victims were asked to sign paperwork for federally subsidized Affordable Care Act policies before being flown out of state, sometimes within the same day.

Instead of receiving mental health or addiction treatment, the individuals found themselves in overcrowded homes with little to no care. Some were left on the streets after a few weeks, while the fraudulent clinics billed insurance companies up to $9,000 per day per person, Brown said.

“We discovered a fraud scheme that involved fraudulently billing our insurance companies and their customers about $23.3 million in unsupported and unjustified bills,” Brown told NBC Montana. “We were able to expose the scheme, stop the demands for payment, and save Montanans millions of dollars as well as protect the quality of healthcare in our state.”

The Commissioner’s Office began investigating the fraud in early 2025 after PacificSource Health Plans, a nonprofit insurer providing Affordable Care Act coverage in Montana, reported suspicious claims. Investigators found at least 200 suspected fraudulent enrollments linked to California treatment facilities, with total claims of up to $50 million.

Under the ACA, Native Americans can enroll in marketplace plans at any time, which made it possible for out-of-state scammers to exploit same-day enrollments. Brown described the conduct as a form of human trafficking, saying participants were coerced into signing policies and transported across state lines for fake treatment.

“What was happening is that our citizens would be shipped down to California or to Arizona. No treatment would actually be provided,” Brown said. “Then the insurance companies that run the Obamacare plans would then be charged for the services that were never provided.”

Brown credited the quick cooperation of PacificSource in halting the billing and preventing further fraud. He said PacificSource contacted his office quickly and they worked closely with federal law enforcement and tribal leaders to stop the scheme.

The investigation, which began within weeks of Brown taking office, continues to probe other insurers in Montana that may have been targeted. Brown said additional rescissions could raise total savings to $50 million.

“What’s so outrageous about this scheme is that these fraudsters are not just stealing money,” Brown said. “They’re exploiting people with addiction, coercing them into bogus treatment. They’re engaging in human trafficking. They’re abandoning them far from home. They’re targeting our tribal communities for profit. This is really the most reprehensible kind of corruption if you prey on our Native American families in this state.”

Brown’s office has referred parts of the case to the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for potential criminal prosecution.

After years of legal battles, a federal decision is set to change how bison can graze on public land in Montana.

This week, the Bureau of Land Management moved to revoke bison grazing permits held by the conservation group American Prairie, following direction from the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The decision would overturn a 2022 ruling that allowed bison to graze on seven allotments in Phillips County.

Governor Greg Gianforte and Attorney General Austin Knudsen had challenged that earlier decision, arguing it violated federal grazing law.

Both officials have long maintained that the permits were improperly issued under the Taylor Grazing Act.

The latest move by BLM aims to reverse course and revoke the permits, a decision praised by the Montana Stockgrowers Association.

“We felt since the first, when this decision was made by BLM, that it was against the law, the Taylor Grazing Act,” said Monty Lesh, second vice president of the Montana Stockgrowers Association.

The Taylor Grazing Act, enacted in 1934, was designed to prevent overgrazing and soil deterioration on public lands.

Lesh argues the law applies only to domestic livestock raised for food and fiber production.

“They stated that their bison are wildlife, and the Taylor Grazing Act is very specific it’s for domestic animals for food, fiber, meat production,” Lesh said.

Lesh added that wildlife are not subject to the same health checks and vaccination requirements as domestic livestock.

He said diseases such as brucellosis, which can be carried by bison, are a major concern for ranchers, along with the difficulty of containing bison with standard fencing.

American Prairie, which works to restore bison to their native Montana grasslands through free-ranging “conservation herds,” pushed back against the decision.

In a statement to NBC Montana, the organization said it has had permission to graze bison for more than 20 years and has followed the law throughout that time.

The group says that the reversal is not based on new information and called the decision ‘unfair’.

Attorney General Knudsen praised the move, saying it will help protect Montana’s livestock industry.

Knudsen said he has urged BLM to cancel the permits for more than four years, calling the reversal a major victory.

American Prairie issued the following statement:

American Prairie CEO Alison Fox responded to the decision made Friday by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to eliminate the organization’s bison grazing privileges on public lands, calling the outcome unfair, deeply disappointing, disruptive, and inconsistent with long-standing public-lands grazing practices in Montana.

“This is a slippery slope,” Fox said. “When federal agencies begin changing how the rules are applied after the process is complete, it undermines confidence in the system for everyone who relies on public lands. Montana livestock owners deserve clarity, fairness, and decisions they can count on.”

“This creates uncertainty for livestock owners across Montana who depend on public lands for grazing,” said American Prairie CEO Alison Fox. “We’ve had permission to graze bison on some of these allotments for 20 years and have followed the law, complied with every requirement, and prioritized transparency at every step.”

American Prairie emphasized that it is merely seeking equal treatment under the law, not special treatment or a change in precedent. To the organization’s knowledge, this is the first time the federal government has invoked the Taylor Grazing Act to require a bison herd to be designated as a ‘production herd’, despite the fact that American Prairie manages its bison on the ground in the same manner as a production operation.

“American Prairie has always been an organization with big ideas and ambitious goals,” said Fox. “But at the same time, we have never felt that those ambitions placed us above the law. In fact, we have prided ourselves on our ability to manage our herd responsibly, comply with all state and federal grazing requirements, and go above and beyond when it comes to regulated disease testing.

“This decision is not grounded in new impacts or new information — it appears to be completely arbitrary and unfair.”

Beyond land stewardship, American Prairie’s bison program has delivered significant and measurable benefits to Montana communities. The herd has helped feed Montana families through hundreds of public harvests, and local organizations have raised more than $150,000 over the past decade by raffling donated bison harvests — dollars that stay in local communities.

“Our bison herd has supported food security, improved rangeland health, and created valuable opportunities for local nonprofits which include veterans associations, youth organizations, and local sportsmen’s chapters,” Fox said. “Those benefits should matter. Instead, we’re seeing a departure from consistent application of the law that puts producers and working lands at risk.”

American Prairie warned that treating routine grazing requests differently — especially after years of analysis and compliance — sets a troubling precedent for how public lands are managed in the U.S.

American Prairie is reviewing the decision and determining its course of action, and will continue to advocate for a public-lands grazing system that is lawful, predictable, and applied equally.

Attorney General Austin Knudsen issued the following statement:

“I’m pleased to see this proposed decision from the Trump Administration’s Bureau of Land Management today. Canceling the American Prairie Reserve’s bison grazing permit will help to protect the livestock industry and ranching communities in Northeastern Montana from the elitists trying to push them out. For over four years I have been urging the BLM to cancel the permit, and our work finally paid off. This is a huge victory. As Attorney General and the state’s chief legal officer, I will continue to do my part to support Montana farmers and ranchers.”