(Radio Iowa) – Today (Thursday) marks the first day Iowa health care providers will no longer be required to get the same reimbursement rates for medically necessary telemedicine visits as they would for in-person visits. The requirement was part of Gov. Kim Reynolds public health disaster proclamation. Dr. Doug Van Daele, at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, says virtual visits are still being conducted at much higher rates than they were pre-pandemic. Van Daele says, “I would get emails from people who would say, ‘I didn’t think this telemedicine was going to work,’ but now it’s clear, I’m going to be doing telemedicine long after this pandemic is over, because the patients love it so much.” Van Daele says

UIHC is working with private insurers to make sure patients continue to have telemedicine options. While such virtual visits have gained in popularity, Van Daele says some patients still face barriers to the service. “I still have a fair number of patients in my practice who still have flip phones and they just simply don’t have broadband at home that they could use with their computer to be able to access it,” he says.

The change in reimbursement rates doesn’t affect mental health visits, which are guaranteed payment parity under a new state law. The change also won’t affect visits covered by Medicare.

(By Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – Three of the Iowans serving in the U.S. House were in the Oval Office yesterday (Wednesday) as President Biden signed a bill named for an Iowa veteran who died by suicide five years ago. Brandon Ketchum of Davenport was a Marine sergeant who unsuccessfully sought in-patient treatment at a V-A center in Iowa City. Congresswoman Cindy Axne of West Des Moines says Biden called Ketchum’s mother. “When he connected with Bev, Sergeant Ketchum’s mother, there was not a dry eye in the room,” Axne says.

The law creates three new V-A teams to connect veterans in rural areas with mental health experts. Axne, a Democrat, was the bill’s lead sponsor. “Just so pleased to honor Sergeant Ketchum with this bill,” Axne says, “and it’s been years in the making and it’s so needed.”

Congresswoman Axne with President Biden at the bill signing

Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion was the lead Republican co-sponor and she recorded a video statement as she walked to the White House for yesterday’s (Wednesday’s) bill signing. “I will always work across the aisle to work on behalf of Iowa’s veterans,” Hinson said in the video she posted on Twitter, “and I know that this legislation will truly help veterans in Iowa and across the country.”

Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa also signed onto the legislation. Miller-Meeks says the new law will help many veterans get the mental health services they need and she was proud to have been present to witness the bill signing.

No injuries were reported following a single-vehicle accident this (Thursday) morning, on Atlantic’s southwest side. The incident involving a 2007 Toyota Camry occurred near 29^th Street and Sunnyside Lane was reported at 8:53-a.m. Atlantic Police Officer Cameron Ward explains what happened.

The occupant of the vehicle, whose name was not immediately released, was trapped in the car. It took a whole team of emergency personnel to get him out.

The vehicle sustained substantial damage.

Cass EMS along with Atlantic Fire and Rescue were called to the scene of a single-vehicle accident on the City’s southwest side, at around 8:53-a.m., today (Thursdsay). According to dispatch reports, a man was said to be trapped in the vehicle. The crash occurred at 29th Street and Sunnyside Lane. Additional information is not currently available.

(Radio Iowa) – As of today (Thursday), Iowans no longer have to get a permit to purchase or carry a handgun, but will still have to undergo a background check when buying a handgun from a federally licensed gun dealer. Black Hawk County Sheriff Tony Thompson says he’s concerned some Iowans will mistake the new law to mean that everyone is allowed to carry a handgun. “If you have committed domestic violence and been convicted of that, if you have been convicted of a felony, if you have been adjudicated mentally ill, there are still restrictors that legally would prohibit you from being able to carry a weapon,” Thompson says.

The new state law makes it legal for Iowans to conduct private gun sales without permits or background checks, but they could be charged with a felony if they sell a gun to someone they know or should know is prohibited from having a gun. Thompson, who is the president of the Iowa Sheriffs’ and Deputies’ Association, says he hopes Iowans will continue to apply for permits through their sheriff’s office even though it’s now optional.  “What I am hoping is those folks that do recognize that there is value in having a quality background check done…they will continue to keep their permits,” Thompson says.

Permits help expedite gun sales — so background checks aren’t required for each purchase — and the Iowa permits allow legal travel with a gun in some other states. Republican legislators who advocated for getting rid of the permits said it was wrong to force Iowans to get permission slips for their constitutional right to bear arms. A recent Des Moines Register Iowa Poll found 30 percent of Iowans support the new law, while 67 percent oppose it.

A black bear, approximately three-years of age who gained social media followers while wandering throughout the Midwest, has died. “Bruno” as he was known, was struck by a vehicle in Louisiana, causing his back legs to be broken. According to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, says the male bear had to be euthanized because he was paralyzed and dragging himself due to his spinal injuries. Biologists estimated that Bruno had been injured about a month before a homeowner in Morehouse Parish, which is on the Arkansas state line in northeastern Louisiana, called the department Tuesday, saying a bear wouldn’t leave the yard.

(File Photo) via Radio Iowa

Bruno had traveled in Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri before getting cornered between two interstates and drawing a crowd of hundreds in Missouri. His journey had taken him 800 miles. Facebook fans tracked the bear south through Arkansas, as well. According to a woman who set up a Facebook page for Bruno, “Keeping Bruno Safe,” he was an odd bear who seemed to prefer farm fields and groves to forests, and never went for the easy pickings of trash cans and dumpsters. He never threatened humans.