Iowa’s long-term care system remains under mounting pressure from workforce shortages, high turnover and a wave of facility closures that have left vulnerable residents traumatized and at risk, according to a new report from the Iowa Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman.
Flu is rising rapidly across the U.S., driven by a new variant of the virus — and cases are expected to keep growing with holiday travel.
Ten Iowa entities have been notified they will receive grants of up to $1 million each for opioid addiction prevention and treatment, according to state documentation provided to The Gazette on Tuesday.
The funding — $50 billion spread across the country — comes from federal Republicans’ tax policy and federal budget legislation which also slashed hundreds of billions from Medicaid and other federal health programs
An Iowa Medicaid billing change the state says is required by federal law is drawing sharp criticism from pediatric therapy providers and families, who say it effectively cuts reimbursement by up to two-thirds. Clinics warn the shift could force shorter therapy sessions, reduce access for Medicaid patients and hit rural families hardest. Parents fear children could lose crucial early intervention during the years when it matters most.
Iowa’s Office of Ombudsman, which investigates complaints related to local and state government, opened 6,266 cases this year. Of those, 56 percent involved the Iowa Department of Corrections, and 24 percent involved the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.
Amid a surge of illnesses including whooping cough and influenza, several school districts across the state have had to cancel classes in recent weeks.
New numbers show Iowa’s jobless rate fell slightly in September, though more Iowans remain unemployed than a year ago. State officials are also seeking proposals for a federally backed effort to boost rural health care access.
A special investigation by the Iowa State Auditor’s Office found Crossroads Behavioral Health Services mishandled or misused more than $180,000 in federal and opioid settlement funds. Meanwhile, a state partnership with Ancestry.com has digitized over 1 million Iowa historical records at no taxpayer cost.
According to a news release, an older adult in southwest Iowa has died from influenza.
Iowa households that rely on food assistance will begin receiving their long-delayed November SNAP benefits after Congress ended the 43-day federal government shutdown, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday.
Gov. Kim Reynolds’ “Healthy Hometowns” plan aims to modernize rural hospitals with federal aid from a new $50 billion fund — but health leaders warn it won’t fully offset sweeping Medicaid reductions.
The funding to opioid addition treatment programs is one of the first publicly announced allocations of the millions of dollars available to Iowa through a national settlement against pharmaceutical companies over opioid addiction
Gov. Kim Reynolds on Thursday announced plans to deploy the Iowa National Guard, match $1 million in food bank donations and recruit volunteers to help feed families if federal SNAP benefits stop Nov. 1 amid the federal government shutdown.
Republican Iowa U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks has introduced legislation to fund federal food assistance that is scheduled to dry up next month if the government shutdown continues.
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