Gazette Daily News Podcast, September 1

Summer isn't gone quite yet. According to the National Weather Service, on Thursday it will be partly sunny, with a high near 91 degrees. On Thursday night it will be mostly cloudy, with a low of around 66 degrees.

Iowa once again will have three for-profit insurance companies managing the state’s $7 billion privatized Medicaid program that provides healthcare for more than a quarter of the state's population.

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday its intent to award contracts to current Iowa Medicaid managed-care organization Amerigroup Iowa and to Molina Healthcare of Iowa, whose CEO, Jennifer Vermeer, spent nearly a decade as the Iowa Medicaid director.

Molina’s parent company, though, has faced fines in three states, including in the past couple months, for not paying providers on time and allegations of improperly submitting claims for reimbursement.

Amerigroup and its subsidiary health plans also have been fined or paid a hefty settlement for denial of service and Medicaid fraud claims over the years.

The company, in a statement on its website, said its “mission is to improve the health and lives of our members by delivering high-quality health care, and we look forward to fulfilling that mission in Iowa.”

The downtown Cedar Rapids Public Library is reopening today after most cleaning has wrapped up following a fire that closed the facility for a month.

A fire broke out in a light fixture above the Commons of the downtown library, 450 Fifth Ave. SE, around 3:45 p.m. July 27. The building was safely evacuated with no injuries.

The fire was quickly put out. There was minimal damage to library materials, according to a news release, but there was extensive smoke residue in the building, as well as fire retardant and water from sprinklers that went off above the Commons.

A professional team from restoration service SERVPRO has cleaned and restored the majority of the building, including books, computers, air ducts and carpets. Some work continues on the ceiling, light fixture and first floor directly under the light fixture where damage occurred.

With damage still present, the library will close at a later date for three days to complete final restoration after investigations have concluded. There is no date for that future closure at this time.

The Biden administration hopes to make getting a COVID-19 booster as routine as going in for the yearly flu shot.

According to the Associated Press, shots of the updated boosters, specifically designed by Pfizer and Moderna to respond to the omicron strain, could start within days. The U.S. government has purchased 170 million doses and is emphasizing that everyone will have free access to the booster.

Until now, COVID-19 vaccines have targeted the original coronavirus strain, even as wildly different mutant strains emerged. The new U.S. boosters are combination, or “bivalent,” shots. They contain half that original vaccine recipe and half protection against the newest omicron versions, BA.4 and BA.5, that are considered the most contagious yet.

White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said he recommends most Americans get the booster by the end of October.