(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Attorney General’s office is launching a series of consumer protection presentations today (Thursday) that will visit a dozen Iowa cities over the next month. Al Perales, an investigator in the A-G’s office, says he’ll be prepared to hear consumer complaints after he outlines some of the most popular scams, like when you get a message from a supposed Facebook friend. “They tell you that they’ve been approved for a grant and you’ve been approved, too,” Perales says. “The scam is so good because you believe that it’s coming from someone that you trust, someone that you know, and of course they didn’t get a grant. They tell you that you’ve been approved and start the process of trying to scam you.”

In another popular scam, Perales says you might get a text, email or robocall from someone claiming to be with Amazon, confirming you’ve been sent a high-dollar item. “It’s telling me that it’s been shipped to Arizona and it even gives you the address,” Perales says. “And of course, I have a customer service number: ‘If this is not you, or if there’s a problem, call this number.’ When you call that number, it feels like Amazon. It sounds like Amazon. They’re very kind. They want to take care of the problem, but it’s nothing but a scheme to defraud you of your money.”

Elderly Iowans are sometimes targeted in a late-night phone call from someone claiming to be a grandchild who needs bail money, but Perales says Iowans in their teens, 20s and 30s are falling victim to con artists, too. “The younger generation is getting hit on Facebook or on Twitter,” Perales says. “The scammer will put something up, whether it’s a job opportunity or something for sale, and there’ll be a link to get more information. You press on that link and guess what? You open yourself up to get scammed.”

Perales will start the tour today in Independence. Other cities on the list include: Eldora, Monticello, Dyersville, Lake View, Grinnell, Creston, Sioux City, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Atlantic and Tama. For a full schedule, visit:
https://www.iowaattorneygeneral.gov/newsroom/consumer-davenport-atlantic-tama-eldora-monticello-dyersville-lake-view-grinnell-creston-sioux-co?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

(Radio Iowa) – The last bill to clear the legislature this year gives Iowa’s insurance commissioner authority to collect more data about companies called pharmacy benefit managers. Critics say P-B-Ms are driving small-town pharmacies out of business, while the industry says P-B-Ms are helping to control prescription drug costs. Pharmacy Benefit Managers are companies hired to administer prescription drug benefits provided by large employers, insurance companies and Medicare Part D.

Two months ago, the Iowa House unanimously voted for a series of safeguards for pharmacies and consumers. This week Iowa Senate voted to scale some of that back. For instance, Republican Senator Mike Klimesh, of Spillville, says the bill no longer ensures any Iowa pharmacy can apply to be part of networks that serve customers with prescription drug insurance. “What’s left in the bill, the bulk of the bill is a regulatory framework giving the insurance commissioner more latitude for rulemaking, to start to gather additional information,” Klimesh said, “so it helps us in our policy crafting process in years to come.”

Representative Brian Best, a Republican from Carroll, says more must be done to exposure the secretive conduct of P-B-Ms. “This is a situation where if we don’t do more than this, we are going to lose our pharmacies in small towns,” Best says. “Small town pharmacies are part of rural Iowa. In some blocks, it’s about all there is left sometimes and if we lose that, we’re losing everything.” Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver says a nationwide policy would be better, but congress has been unable to act, so lawmakers in states like Iowa are trying to come up with solutions.

“You have the pharmacists on one hand. You have PhARMA on another, you have the PBMs, you have insurance companies, you have the employers and so to try to find a balance is what we’re trying to do, which is control drug prices, is very difficult,” Whitver says. “I think the bill we passed in the end will allow us to continue to work on that issue.”

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, pharmacy benefit managers process about 75 percent of all prescriptions filled in the United States. All but four states have passed laws that regulate P-B-Ms in some fashion.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s Attorney General has reached a settlement in A lawsuit with a company in an “Iowa One Call” violation that resulted in death. The Marion County suit alleges M-C-S Communications failed on six occasions to call first when digging to install fiber optic cable in Pella in 2020. A company crew hit an electrical line with a jackhammer, resulting in the electrocution of two employees and the injury of a third in August of 2020.

Other excavations damaged natural gas pipelines and a telecommunications line. M-C-S admitted to the violations and agreed to pay a 10-thousand dollar civil penalty in addition to injunctive relief prohibiting future violations.