Health Providers Not Being Paid Properly
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The president of Iowa’s largest state employees’ union says
some health providers are not being properly paid under Iowa’s privately managed
Medicaid program, and state officials say they’re unable to provide data on any
reported issues.
Danny Homan, president of AFSCME Iowa Council 61, told reporters Friday his
office has received multiple phone calls over several weeks from health providers
who help Medicaid patients with services in their homes. He says providers claim
they have not been paid or payments are delayed, though he was unable to estimate
the scope of the problem.
Iowa’s Department of Human Services switched its Medicaid program to three
private companies in April. Spokeswoman Amy Lorentzen McCoy says she’s received
anecdotal information from the companies about payment issues, but more specific
data is not collected.
Transgender Bathroom Rules Brochure Has Been Changed
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa Civil Rights Commission brochure that some churches
interpreted to mean they must abide by transgender bathroom rules has been changed.
The commission said Friday that the brochure, which was last updated in 2008,
has been reworded to make it clear places of worship are generally exempt from
Iowa’s antidiscrimination law except when they’re open for voting, providing a day
care facility or other non-religious activities.
The brochure led the Fort Des Moines Church of Christ in Des Moines to file a
lawsuit Monday and Cornerstone World Outreach Church in Sioux City to threaten to
sue.
The commission said Friday it’s done nothing to suggest it would push churches
on the issue.
A group representing the Sioux City church says it takes the state at its word
but will pursue legal action if necessary.
You Think This Is Hot? The Summer Of 1936, Now That Was Hot!
The heat and humidity levels are making Iowans feel pretty uncomfortable lately, but if you know an old-timer who lived here during the Dust Bowl days, they’ll likely tell you this is nothing. Meteorologist Jim Lee, at the National Weather Service, says this is the 80th anniversary of Iowa’s most brutal season on record, the scorching summer of 1936.
Of course, that was long before air conditioners were in most homes. Not only was the summer of 1936 super-hot, it was also exceptionally dry. Lee says Des Moines only got 41-hundreds of an inch of rain during that July, well below the normal four inches.
Nationwide, there were five-thousand deaths attributed to the heat wave 80 summers ago due to heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
(Reporting by Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)
