Des Moines – Iowa seniors and Medicare beneficiaries are encouraged to be aware of current Medicare card scams in our state.  To learn more about Medicare scams impacting Iowans, register for our live event on Friday, April 23, 2021 at 1:30 p.m. at https://bit.ly/3s0g8Ua. “It’s important for Iowans to protect their Medicare number and not give it to unknown callers,” SHIIP/SMP Director Kristin Griffith said. “Medicare will rarely contact you by phone, and if so, you can also hang up and call Medicare back to confirm that the call is legitimate and not a scam.”

Medicare scams include the following:

• Scammers falsely tell Medicare beneficiaries that Medicare is issuing new Medicare cards.  Medicare isn’t issuing new cards and Medicare employees don’t contact participants through unsolicited calls, emails, or visits. Medicare communicates with beneficiaries via mail.
• Scammers falsely allege Medicare is issuing new plastic or metal Medicare cards or black and white Covid-19 Medicare cards.  The scammers state that in order to get your new card, you need to provide personal identifying information such as your Medicare number, birth date or even financial account numbers. Medicare will never ask for your personal information or Medicare number unless you contact Medicare yourself.
• Scammers falsely allege Medicare is replacing the Medicare card due to suspicious activity, or promise the new Medicare card will give them new and enhanced Medicare benefits not available with their current card. Scammers often threaten that the current Medicare card is going to be deactivated.  This is not true.
• “Spoofing” is a process often used by scammers.  Spoofing is when a caller deliberately falsifies the information transmitted to your caller ID display to disguise their identity. Scammers also often use “neighbor spoofing” so it appears that an incoming call is coming from a local number, or spoof a number from a company or a government agency like Medicare or Social Security Administration that you may already know and trust.

If you suspect Medicare fraud, errors, or abuse contact Iowa SHIIP/Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) at 1-800-351-4664 or www.smp.iowa.gov.

Des Moines, Iowa – The Iowa Insurance Division today announced that Trinity Healthshare Inc. (now known as Sharity Ministries, Inc.) has agreed to a consent order that says Trinity will cease operations in Iowa on June 30, 2021, following charges that were filed against Trinity Healthshare Inc. and The Aliera Companies in 2020.

“While Trinity has denied the allegations, it has agreed to cease operations in Iowa.  Trinity will continue to facilitate sharing among current Iowa members until June 30, 2021, so that members have sufficient time to find alternative options,” Iowa Insurance Division spokesman Chance McElhaney said.  “Consumers who have purchased these products are eligible for the ACA special enrollment period open now through May 15.  Consumers are encouraged to speak with licensed insurance agents who can help them determine what options may be available to them.”

According to the statement of charges, Respondent Trinity, purportedly operated as a health care sharing ministry, acted as an unauthorized insurer by offering health care insurance products to Iowa consumers which were not approved for sale in Iowa.  It is alleged that Aliera marketed, offered, sold, and administered these plans on behalf of Trinity without being appropriately licensed.  Both Aliera and Trinity are alleged to have utilized unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the offer and sale of these health care products.  The other Respondents in this matter are not part of this settlement.

Consumers may contact Consumer Advocate, Sonya Sellmeyer, if they have questions about the special enrollment option at 515-654-6538.

Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh says the food box distributions are going so well, Anita Town and Country will hold another USDA Farmers to Families Food Box distribution one week from this Saturday. The event takes place March 27th at the Anita Community Center (805 Main Street), from 10:30 – 11:30 AM, or until supplies are gone. All you have to do is to pull-up in your vehicle, stay in your car, and open the trunk. The food boxes will be placed inside.

A USDA Farmers to Families Food Box is seen at a Des Moines Area Religious Council mobile food pantry stop at the downtown bus station, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Des Moines, Iowa. Agricultural groups and anti-hunger organizations are pushing the Biden administration to continue the Farmers to Families Food Box program launched by President Donald Trump that spent $6 billion to prevent farmers from plowing under food and instead provide it to millions of Americans left reeling by the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Anyone is welcome to visit the drive-through food box pick-up, and no documentation or proof of need is required. Boxes will be given away at no cost. People from surrounding towns and communities are welcome. The USDA Farmers to Families Food Boxes are likely to contain fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy products, and meat.

(For more information, contact Jodi Irlmeier, Anita Town and Country, 712-762-4234)

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A decommissioned eastern Iowa nuclear plant could become the site of a new massive solar energy project. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that NextEra Energy of Florida this week laid out plans with nearby landowners to build a solar farm near the now-idle Duane Arnold Energy Center. The company said the project, planned for 2023, could bring in a $700 million capital investment and about 300 construction jobs. The solar farm would stretch across 3,500 acres near the plant in Palo and would produce up to 690 megawatts of solar energy — even more than the nuclear plant had generated.

(Radio Iowa) – From one to none. Another positive milestone in Iowa’s pandemic experience, as the state website with coronavirus data now shows there are NO Covid outbreaks in Iowa nursing homes this (Thursday) morning. State officials say a nursing home is cleared from being labeled with Covid outbreak status if the facility goes 28 days without a new positive case among residents and staff. Yesterday, the Vista Wood Care Center, which Radio Iowa incorrectly reported Tuesday as being in the town of Wapello rather than in Wapello County — was shown to have two active cases. A total of 13 residents and staff had tested positive for the virus in March. The facility has now gone four weeks without a new case of Covid.

Last spring, the state of Iowa began listing classifying nursing homes as being the site of a Covid outbreak is at least three residents tested positive for the virus. This (Thursday) morning, the state website shows 22-hundred-24 long term care residents have died of Covid during the pandemic. State officials say they do not have a list of how many of Iowa’s 436 nursing homes had Covid outbreaks.

If you have a “Green thumb” or an interest in growing your own produce or even flowers, the Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department is offering you the opportunity to do so, through the use of one of 10 raised garden bed boxes in the Community Gardens at Mollett Park. The park is located at 1020 E. 3rd Street Place, which curves off of N. Mulberry Street and has a cul-de-sac. Parks and Rec Director Bryant Rasmussen says when you rent one of the boxes. you can plant just about anything, and they even give you some of the tools needed to make your garden grow.

The raised gardens are designed to show people they can become self-sufficient by raising their own food for themselves and/or others.

The raised beds allow nutrients in the soil to be stored in the box, and they allow for proper soil drainage.

The boxes can be rented for $35 each.

Rasmussen says a couple of the main rules are, to make sure what you’re growing doesn’t encroach on a neighboring garden box, and that any use of chemicals not be sprayed or drift onto adjacent boxes. For more rules and regulations, or more information, contact Bryant Rasmussen, Atlantic Parks & Rec Director, at (712)-243-3542.

More area and state news from Ric Hanson.

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A man from Clarke County was arrested Wednesday night on drug charges, in Creston. Police in Creston say 46-year-old Corey Scott Hites, of Osceola, was arrested at around 9-p.m., at 302 N. Pine St., in Creston, with the assistance of the K9 “Baxo.” Hites was charged with: two-counts Possession of Controlled Substance – 3rd Offense; Possession of Drug Paraphernalia; Failure to Affix Drug Stamp; a Controlled Substance Violation – Marijuana, and Controlled Substance Violation – Methamphetamine.

Hites was taken to Union County Jail them transferred to the Adams County Jail.

The News at 7:07-a.m. from News Director Ric Hanson.

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