(Radio Iowa/Wisconsin Radio Network) – A healthcare company that’s familiar in northeast Iowa is changing its name. Gundersen Health Systems has merged with Bellin Health. Both are based in Wisconsin. The company will now be known as Emplify Health, although C-E-O Scott Rathgaber says it will take time to make the change.

“You’ll initially start to see when it comes out as Emplify Health by Gunderson and Emplify Health by Bellin,” he says, “to make sure people know that we are honoring those legacies, that we are becoming from those foundations and not tearing them down.” The new name is a new word. Emplify is drawn from both “empathy,” defined as feeling aware of another’s emotions, and the word “amplify,” which means to increase. Rathgaber says the new name will be worked in gradually.

“People will see the same doctors, same locations and get the exact same experience and high quality of care,” he says. Bellin and Gundersen Health Systems merged in December of 2022.

Emplify Health operates clinics and hospitals in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan. In Iowa, the system has clinics in Calmar, Decorah, Fayette, Lansing, Postville and Waukon, and a hospital in West Union.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Reynolds has signed two insurance-related bills into law this (Thursday) morning. One requires that insurance plans cover diagnostic tests like M-R-Is that are used to detect breast cancer. Forty-nine-year-old Kimberly Pearson of Oskaloosa, a breast cancer survivor, is a nurse who became a navigator for breast cancer patients at Pella’s hospital after she completed her own treatment four years ago.

“I have so many patients who are high risk and we know that and they need better imaging and they can’t afford it because of the limited allowances by insurance,” she says, “so I have just felt very passionate that we need to pursue legislation that requires payment of that.” Pearson says mammograms alone are not adequate for some patients.

“If you have dense breast tissue, a mammogram may not see a mass in your breast until it’s quite large. It’s kind of like a cloudy picture. Breast MRI is much more sensitive, much easier to see through that dense tissue so you can find tumors when they’re much smaller and early and less life threatening,” she says, “and easier to treat.” The other bill the governor signed today (Wednesday) will require health insurance plans to cover what’s called biomarker testing.

Maria Steele, on left, holds her grandson as her granddaughter, sitting on Governor Kim Reynolds’ lap, joins cheers after bill is signed into law. (RI photo)

Biomarker testing checks genes and other indicators, like protein levels in blood, that can be a sign of cancer and other diseases. Maria Steele, a 66-year-old retired nurse practitioner from Des Moines, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer four years ago. “It had spread to my brain and my bones. I had to had to have radiation treatments both to my brain and my bones, but I’m also on targeted therapy which I know what therapy to be on, actually my oncologist knows what therapy I need to be on because of the biomarker testing,” Steele says, “so this is a huge day that this bill was signed.”

Steele’s insurance company originally declined to pay for the biomarker testing, but because of her own experience as a nurse practitioner, she knew how to navigate the system. She says the new law requires insurance companies to cover the test if a doctor orders it. “You won’t have to go through all the paperwork that I had to go through to get my biomarker test covered,” Steele says. “…This is huge for payment for what is standard of care in oncology.” Steele, who as a nurse practitioner ordered biomarker tests for patients diagnosed with liver cancer, says the tests have revolutionized cancer treatment.

“Ten years ago if I had been diagnosed I would have gotten the same treatment that every lung cancer patient would have had but now because the biomarker’s this GPS, so you’re going to get the right treatment and typically fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapy, but more importantly, on a personal level, your quality of life is so much better,” Steele says. “I was told that statistically, I had a year to live — four years ago, so I have been able to spend time with my beautiful family.”

Steele’s granddaughter, Penelope, sat on Governor Kim Reynolds lap as the governor signed the bill into law.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has approved the plan that will shrink Iowa’s individual income tax to a single rate of three-point-nine percent next year. Lawmakers say it will amount to a billion dollar cut in state income taxes. “When I took office, Iowa’s personal income tax rate was the sixth highest in the nation at 8.98%. I think we had nine brackets and the list could go on and on. It was certainly clear that we needed to make a change,” Reynolds said. “And that’s exactly what we’ve done.”

Reynolds signed an income tax cut in 2018 that was billed as the largest in state history. This is the fifth time she’s approved legislation that reduces income taxes. A group of Republican lawmakers and a few lobbyists joined the governor for a bill signing ceremony in her statehouse office. “All of the tax cuts that we’ve enacted through the legislature and signing into law since 2018 will save Iowans nearly $24 billion over a decade, running through Fiscal Year 2030. Should I say that one more time?” Reynolds asked, laughing as the crowd applauded.

Two years ago, the governor signed a bill that eliminated the state income tax on retirement income and whittled down the corporate income tax rate. Last year, a plan to contain property tax growth become law. “Simply put, we’ve comprehensively transformed our tax code and dramatically increased our competitiveness within a few short years,” Reynolds said.

Democrats who have opposed the tax cuts say Republicans are prioritizing cuts for wealthy Iowans and corporations, while cutting tax revenue to the point the state will be unable to support schools and other priorities.

(Harlan, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Shelby County, today (Wednesday), released a list of arrests that took place during the month of April. Beginning with the most recent:

4/27/2024: William Joseph Daeges, Age 61, Harlan, IA. Daeges was transported to the Shelby County Jail on an active warrant in Shelby County.

4/25/2024: Gerard August Rueschenberg, Age 69, Harlan, IA. Rueschenberg was arrested on an active Shelby County warrant.

4/25/2024: Amber Lea Nelson, Age 39, Dow City, IA. Nelson was transported to the Shelby County Jail was arrested on an active Shelby County warrant.

4/23/2024: James Victor Ayers, Age 49, Macedonia, IA. Ayers was arrested following a traffic stop on M16.Ayers was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with OWI – 2nd Offense, Driving Under Suspension, and Open Container.

4/22/2024: Victoria Anne Griffin, Age 27, Shelby, IA. Griffin was arrested after a call for service. Griffin was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Disorderly Conduct, and Criminal Mischief-2nd degree.

4/19/2024: Christina Jo Bluhm, Age 35, Glenwood, IA. Bluhm was arrested and transported to the Shelby County Jail on an active Shelby County warrant; Dylan Michael Jager, Age 29, Elk Horn, IA. Jager was arrested and transported to the Shelby County Jail on an active Shelby County warrant.

4/18/2024: Daija Suzanne Buttry, Age 20, Harlan IA. Buttry was arrested after a call for service. Buttry was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Domestic Abuse Assault- 1st Offense; Bryan Joseph Schuemann, Age 37, Harlan, IA. Schuemann was arrested after a call for service. Schuemann was transported to the Shelby County Jail and Charged with Domestic Abuse Assault- 1st Offense.

4/17/2024 – four arrests: Tegan Ryan Steinkuehler, Age 18, Harlan, IA. Steinkuehler was arrested following a traffic stop on Ridgeway Dr. Steinkuehler was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Driving while License Denied/Revoked; Gerard August Rueschenberg, Age 69, Harlan, IA. Rueschenberg was arrested following a traffic stop on Market St. Rueschenberg was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Driving while License Denied/Revoked, and Failure to Provide Proof of Financial Liability; Holly Lynn Gross, Age 59, Earling, IA. Gross was arrested following a call for service. Gross was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Theft 5th degree, and Criminal Mischief 5th degree; Kari Jean Elizabeth Nordby, Age 46, Harlan, IA. Nordby was arrested following a call for service. Nordby was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Domestic Abuse Assault- 1st Offense.

4/16/2024: Jessica Marie Mark, Age 39, Harlan, IA. Mark was arrested following a call for service. Mark was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance- 1st Offense.

4/14/2024: Janaska Christian Bowles, Age 25, West Des Moines, IA. Bowles was arrested following a traffic stop on Pine St. Bowles was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with OWI – 2nd Offense, and No Valid Driver’s License.

4/13/2024: Marshall Orin Arms, Age 34, Shelby, IA. Arms was arrested and transported to Shelby County Jail on an active Shelby County warrant.

4/08/2024: Keith Allen Wise II, Age 32, Council Bluffs, IA. Wise was arrested and transported to Shelby County Jail on a Shelby County warrant Domestic Abuse Assault-1st, and Contempt- Violation of Probation.

4/02/2024: Melody Lynn Miller, Age 44, Omaha, NE. Miller was arrested and transported to the Shelby County Jail on an Active warrant in Shelby County.

Note: Criminal charges are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.

TREYNOR, Iowa [KCCI] — People in southwest Iowa spent the day cleaning up tornado debris before more storms moved through. In Crescent, a tornado blew off the walls of homes. And in Treynor, a tornado wiped out homes along Highway 92. An 85-year-old woman was nearly killed in the storm. Her daughter says her mom couldn’t make it to the basement in time.

Remarkably, the 85-year-old woman was not injured. The National Weather Service in Omaha says an EF-3 blew through the county on Friday. Winds reached speeds of up to 145 mph.