(Radio Iowa) – A coalition that includes patient advocacy groups and the Iowa Pharmacy Association is launching what they’re calling an accountability project focused on Pharmacy Benefit Managers. Pharmacy Benefit Managers are companies that manage prescription drug benefit plans for insurance companies and Medicare Part D as well as large companies. Some large businesses say they’re concerned P-B-Ms promote higher priced medications when lower cost alternatives are available.

Drug companies accuse P-B-Ms of pocketing the discounts they provide on some medications. Brett Barker is a pharmacist in Nevada. “It’s really increased the list price of the drugs,” Barker says, “and that’s a problem for uninsured patients, for high deductible plan patients because they’re not seeing the benefits of those rebates that are then captured.” And pharmacists like Barker say the reimbursement rates P-B-Ms establish are driving pharmacies out of business, particularly in rural Iowa.

“Pharmacies and pharmacists have been really sounding the alarm about the PBM business model now for decades,” Barker says. “The Iowa Pharmacy Association first took legislation to the legislature in the mid-2000s and so what’s encouraging now is there’s a broad stakeholder group across the industry and with employers, with unions, private sector companies and pharmaceutical companies that all are on the same page, that something needs to be done to reform the system.”

The three P-B-M corporations handle 80 percent of the prescription claims in America and Barker says they use the pharmacy networks they control to drive independent pharmacies out of business. “If something’s not done, there will be more and more communities in Iowa that are going to lose access to pharmacy services because of basically the monopoly take-it-or-leave-it business practices of these PBMs,” Barker says. “They’ve found ways to siphon money out of the entire supply chain and what started as prescription claim processors, those big three are now Fortune 15 companies. They’re three of the 15 largest companies in the United States.”

The goal of the P-B-M Accountability Project is to educate Iowans about the industry and to urge state and federal lawmakers to require more transparency about the actual costs of medications and ban unfair pricing schemes. Pharmacy Benefit Managers say they help improve patient outcomes and control prescription drug costs, which lowers insurance premiums.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A collision between a car and a bicycle Saturday evening in Atlantic, resulted in injuries to a 47-year-old woman from Atlantic. The accident happened at around 5:36-p.m. on 5th Street, between Cedar and Birch. The woman, whose name was not officially released, suffered head and arm lacerations. She was transported to Cass Health in Atlantic for treatment, and is expected to recover.

Additional details are currently not available.

(Wiota, Iowa) – A single-vehicle rollover accident Saturday afternoon on eastbound Interstate 80 in Cass County, resulted in injuries. According to Cass County Deputy Kyle Quist, the crash happened at around 1:30-p.m., near the Wiota Exit (Exit 63). One person suffered injuries when their vehicle rolled into a ditch. The unidentified, injured male driver of the vehicle was transported by ambulance to Cass Health in Atlantic.

The crash was under investigation by the Iowa State Patrol. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Wiota and Anita Fire Departments, and Cass EMS assisted at the accident scene.

(Floyd, Iowa) – A collision between and SUV and a car Sunday afternoon in northern Iowa, resulted in the deaths of two people from Minnesota, and injuries to two others. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2016 Jeep Cherokee driven by 37-year-old Jenna Stangland, of Minneapolis, was traveling east on Highway 13 near Floyd, at the same time a 2017 Toyota Prius driven by 74-year-old Steven York, of Waconia, MN, was traveling westbound.

The Jeep crossed the centerline and corrected to return to the eastbound lane, while the Toyota took evasive action to avoid a crash, but the vehicles collided head-on. The accident happened at around 3:50-p.m.

Steven York and a passenger in one of the vehicles, 16-year-old Keira Duffy, of Golden Valley, MN, died at the scene.

Jenna Stangland, and 74-year-old Mary York, were injured in the crash and transported by ambulance and helicopter, respectively, to MercyOne North  Northern Iowa Medical Center, in Mason City.

(Spillville, Iowa) – Two people  died and three others were hurt, during a collision late Saturday night in northeastern Iowa’s Winnesheik County. According to the Iowa State Patrol, the crash occurred at around 11:10-p.m. at the intersection of County Highway B16 and 265th Avenue, in Spillville.

The Patrol says a 2004 Toyota Highlander SUV driven by 42-year-old Christopher Mirich, of Waukon, was traveling north on 265th Avenue, when the vehicle ran a stop sign and collided with a 2012 Chevy Malibu, driven by 49-year-old Neil Heins, of Monona.

Mirich and a passenger in one of the vehicles, 64-year-old Laura Lubka, of Postville, died at the scene. Neils Heins, and two other passengers in the vehicles were injured.  The others included 36-year-old Scott Uhlenhake, of Luana and 28-year-old Taylor Gerleman, of Calmar.

None of the crash victims were wearing a seat belt. The injured victims of the crash were transported by ambulance to the hospital.The crash remains under investigation.

The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office, EMS, 1st Responders, Decorah Police and Fire Dept., Calmar Fire & Rescue, Ossian Ambulance, a Howard County Sheriff’s Deputy, a DNR officer, Provtin Rescue, & Gunderson Air Care.