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Grassley says “rural health care equity” needs to be restored

March 23, 2010 By

Even though President Obama will sign the health care bill into law today, the Senate is now taking up House-approved changes in the comprehensive measure that could keep the debate rolling for months. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican, is working to restore what he calls “rural health care equity” to the massive undertaking.

Grassley says, “The issue is how Medicare is going to calculate payments to physicians and unfairly penalize rural doctors, making it harder for rural Medicare beneficiaries to find a doctor.” Grassley had an amendment in the original bill which he says would have improved the way the government determines what doctors in rural states are paid for treating Medicare patients.

Now, he says, the amendment has been “undermined” to offer advantages to five so-called “frontier” states. “These five states will get extra help, above and beyond what I had previously gotten for all rural states,” Grassley says. “Their extra help then will hurt other rural states, including Iowa, because it now will be more difficult to get an even-handed change in the formula for everyone.”

The states that are being singled out are: Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Utah. Grassley says the frontier state exceptions were the result of “special deals written behind closed doors in (Senate Majority Leader Harry) Reid’s office” last year. Iowa Congressman Steve King says he’s introducing a bill to repeal what he calls “Obamacare,” but Grassley says he’s not ready to make that leap yet.

“Obviously, nothing’s going to happen until the next election and in regard to a repeal, I’m taking a step at a time,” Grassley says. “I’m going to wait until we’re done here in the United States Senate before I make any determination for the future.”

King, in a news release, says: “The American people must take their country back by methodically eliminating every vestige of creeping socialism, including socialized medicine. The Pelosi Democrats will pay a price for their overreach. The fight is far from over.”

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

UNI coach says Cinderella role only partly true

March 23, 2010 By

The U.N.I. Panthers are the biggest story in college basketball right now and the next chapter will be played out in St. Louis on Friday night when the Panthers take on Michigan State in the Midwest regional semifinals. U.N.I. reached the “Sweet Sixteen” with a stunning upset of top ranked Kansas.

Coach Ben Jacobsen may not be a big fan of his team being called a “Cinderella” but he understands why. He says it does apply in some ways to what they are doing with the fun and excitement they have generated. But Jacobsen says it doesn’t apply when you look at the fact they have been to the NCAA Tournament in 5 of the last 7 tournaments and people have seen them play and gained respect for what they’ve done.

Jacobsen says the Panthers were able to come back after a big win over UNLV and put together a big effort against Kansas and he expects nothing different as they get ready for Michigan State. He says they worked hard for a day and half to play as well as they can and he says it was not surprise that they played well. Jacobsen says they had to have some things go well and they did, hitting some threes and Kansas missed some threes.

U.N.I. athletic director Troy Dannen expects a large contingent of Panther fans to be at the Edward R. Jones Dome. Dannen says the alumni association is working on a fan bus, they plan on taking three student buses. He says U.N.I. receives 1,250 tickets, the building is set up for 38,000 and there have been 23,000 sold. Dannen says they have had about two and half times more requests than they have tickets.

Dannen says the tickets remaining are likely not in the lower bowl of the stadium, but fans should be able to move down when the first game is over.

There will be a public send off for the team Wednesday afternoon near the McLeod Center.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

ISU women look for ticket to Sweet 16

March 23, 2010 By

The Iowa State women will try to earn a spot in the “Sweet Sixteen” when they take on Wisconsin-Green Bay tonight in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones advanced with a lopsided victory in the opening round while Green Bay edged Virginia. ISU coach Bill Fennelly says the Cyclone post players will need to be ready for a different style of defense.

Fennelly says they are a little more aggressive and with one day to get ready, you fall back on your corps skills. Fennelly says the Cyclones will need to play good defense without fouling. He says Wisconsin-Green Bay will be aggressive with the ball and attack the basket and they will have to be ready.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Cedar Rapids tries using flooded homes for fuel

March 23, 2010 By

A pilot project is getting underway in Cedar Rapids to determine the feasibility of turning wood from flood-damaged homes into fuel.

Marie DeVries, with the Cedar Rapids/Linn County Solid Waste Agency, says the deconstruction project will involve three homes deemed uninhabitable after the 2008 flood.

Wood from the structures will be run through a chipper. DeVries says the chipper has powerful magnets to pull out any nails and screws. It’s estimated 33 tons of wood from the three homes will be recycled instead of ending up in the landfill. The wood chips will be burned for fuel at a biomass energy plant.

The project will determine if the recycling process can compete will traditional demolition processes in terms of timeliness and cost.

“Our goal is to compete with demolition,” DeVries said. “You can knock a house down in less than a day but you’re not capturing any of the materials. You’re just taking it all to the landfill. So, we’re hoping to figure out some techniques that will allow us to knock down a house in a day…even if it takes a day-and-a-half, we think that’s fairly competitive.”

The City of Cedar Rapids is in the process of demolishing around 1,000 structures damaged by flood waters. The deconstruction pilot project is slated to begin this Friday and be completed by April 1st or 2nd. DeVries says her agency originally planned to do the project last fall, but it was delayed by winter weather.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Stimulus money will fund smoking prevention projects in Ringgold and Linn counties

March 23, 2010 By

The federal government is sending the Iowa Department of Public Health just over three-million dollars for two programs to help people stop smoking in Ringgold and Linn Counties. Bonnie Mapes, director of the Iowa Division of Tobacco Use Prevention and Control, says the money will fund a two-year program.

Mapes says they are called “Communities Putting Prevention to Work” grants as part of the federal stimulus program. She says only 44 of the grants were awarded. Mapes says they were looking for one metropolitan and one rural county in what was a competitive process in the state for the grants.

Mapes says officials in Ringgold and Linn counties will look at increasing the availability services that help people stop smoking, they will also help educate people on the new FDA regulations, and to promote tobacco free schools. She says the goal is take what they learn statewide.

Mapes says some of the things they can accomplish with these programs they hope to replicate in other counties. She says they have programs in 96 counties now, with much less funding. Mapes says part of the requirement for the grant was that they create jobs. She says are renegotiating the budget as they got a little less money than they asked for, so the estimate is that they will fund 12 positions in Linn County, in Ringgold County two positions and one state position.

Mapes says they are only keeping back $200,000 for the state, as the rest of the money will all go to the counties. Mapes says they are excited to be able to win the funding to build on the success the state has already had in smoking prevention.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Politics & Government Tagged With:
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