DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – State Auditor Rob Sand criticized pharmacy benefit managers for misusing taxpayer money in a report released Wednesday. Sand, who is also the Democrat candidate for governor, said PBMs misuse taxpayer dollars through practices that Iowa Medicaid bars. The report from the auditor’s office says data from 2019 to 2021 showed payments from Iowa Medicaid to PBMs “vastly exceeded” what PBMs paid to pharmacies. Sand said PBMs bury that difference in their financial records. He said this typically happens at the end of the year. The auditor’s office said Iowa Medicaid bars this practice. Sand said it is a misuse of taxpayer dollars. At a news conference on Wednesday, Sand repeated a criticism he has made on the campaign trail that Iowa law now limits his office from investigating further. “At the end of the day, when they’re hiding this information from us because of SF 478 or because they’re calling it trade secrets, that’s just wrong,” Sand said. “You shouldn’t be able to basically claim that the way you are wrongfully profiting and ripping off taxpayers is somehow proprietary information.” “We recommend the following changes. Year-end reconciliations should be banned. Auditors should be given full access to information in order to determine whether or not PBMs are following the rules,” said Sand. Sand said his office hired three access advisors to assist in the audit. He said that totaled around $30,000. He said the investigation was prompted by seeing similar situations in other states.
CORALVILLE, Iowa (KCRG) – Five people were displaced following a kitchen fire Wednesday afternoon in Coralville. The Coralville Fire Department responded to a fire in the 900 block of 22nd Avenue at 4 p.m. Upon arrival, fire crews found a kitchen on fire in one of the units. Crews brought the fire under control in about 15 minutes. No one was home at the time of the fire. Firefighters remained on scene for one hour after crews got it under control. Two adults and three juveniles were displaced and being assisted by the American Red Cross. The cause of the fire was ruled as accidental in nature, according to authorities.
BLACK HAWK COUNTY, Iowa (KCRG) – A woman’s appeal to vacate a 2019 child support order was dismissed after a court ruled she failed to verify Iowa case citations that did not exist. Mynesia Anderson wanted a child support order from 2019 vacated. A district court denied this, prompting her to appeal. Court documents say she quoted several cases in her appeal. But the appeal court ruled those quotes did not exist. The court asked Anderson to file copies of those cases with highlighted passages or say whether AI was used. She responded, saying a friend helped her and she could neither confirm nor deny using AI. According to court documents, using AI in legal matters risks the chance of it “hallucinating” or fabricating legal authorities that don’t actually exist. This may cause it to make up facts, such as faking court citations, even if the citing for the case may be correct. The court ruled she did not comply with its order and dismissed her appeal.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – A Chicago man was sentenced Monday to 13 years in federal prison for distributing fentanyl. Deorey Hayes-Davis, 31, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances on January 16. Hayes-Davis distributed several hundred fentanyl pills and fentanyl powder to customers in Waterloo during April 2023 and May 2023. During the overnight hours of May 27, 2023, a woman ingested fentanyl that was provided by Hayes-Davis. She died from a fentanyl-related overdose. Authorities said Hayes-Davis had two locked duffel bags during this time. One was filled with about seven firearms, and the other contained drugs that included fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine. Court documents show the duffel bags were provided to the customer, who later opened them and distributed a portion of the drugs before they were taken over by law enforcement. Hayes-Davis will also serve four years of supervised release.
