Latest Iowa Headlines
All the headlines from our Iowa Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Former Iowa Insurance Commissioner Gerhart to Join FBL Financial
Jan 3 2017 // FBL Financial Group Inc. announced that former Iowa Insurance Commissioner Nick Gerhart is joining company as chief administrative officer, on or around Jan. 23, 2017. Gerhart will have responsibility for enterprise...
How Flood Risk in U.S. Is Changing: Increasing in North, Decreasing in South
Dec 30 2016 // The risk of flooding in the United States is changing regionally, and the reasons could be shifting rainfall patterns and the amount of water in the ground. In a new study, Recent Trends in U.S. Flood Risk, University of...
Midwest Regulation Report Card: States’ Grades Range from A to D
Dec 22 2016 // Grades assigned to the insurance regulatory systems in the Midwest states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin range from A to D in a...
Council Bluffs, Iowa Races to Improve Levees in Advance of FEMA Deadline
Dec 19 2016 // Improvements to the Council Bluffs, Iowa, levee system are continuing as city officials hope to beat federal government action that could cost homeowners a boatload of cash in flood insurance. The city council approved the...
Democrats Question Performance of Iowa’s Privatized Medicaid System
Dec 15 2016 // A handful of Democrats in a health oversight committee say they continue to have questions about the performance of Iowa’s Medicaid program, more than eight months after it switched to a privatized system run by...
Council Bluffs, Iowa Races to Improve Levees Before FEMA Deadline
Dec 12 2016 // Improvements to the Council Bluffs, Iowa, levee system continue step-by-step as city officials keep hoping it’s fast enough to beat federal government action that could cost homeowners a boatload of cash in flood...
Iowa Insurance Commissioner Gerhart to Leave Post Effective Dec. 23
Dec 6 2016 // Iowa Insurance Commissioner Nick Gerhart has resigned from his office effective Dec. 23, 2016. Deputy Commissioner Doug Ommen has been named as interim insurance commissioner upon Gerhart’s...
Iowa Nursing Home Fined $11.5K Following Death Investigation
Dec 6 2016 // An Iowa nursing home has been fined $11,513 after an investigation into the death of a resident in August. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports federal regulators imposed the fine after a state investigation determined...
Proposed Iowa Public Employees Contract Gives State more Control over Insurance
Nov 28 2016 // A contract Iowa has proposed for its largest public employees union includes no wage increase and removes health insurance provisions, a sign that changes could be on the horizon for collective bargaining laws when the new...
County in Iowa to Pay $30K to Man Who Scuffled with Deputy
Nov 10 2016 // Officials in Iowa’s Black Hawk County have agreed to pay $30,000 to a man who scuffled with an off-duty sheriff’s deputy after a traffic dispute. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports the county’s...
President Obama Approves Disaster Declaration for 19 Iowa Counties
Nov 2 2016 // President Barack Obama has approved a major disaster declaration for 19 Iowa counties because of storms and flooding in September and October. That makes federal funding available to state and local government agencies and...
Number of Flood Policies Sold in Iowa Dropping in Recent Years
Oct 25 2016 // The number of flood insurance policies sold in Iowa dropped 22 percent between 2011 and this year, but it’s hard to determine the reason for the decline. The Des Moines Register reported the number of policies fell...
Judge Says No New Defendants in Wrongful Death Suit in Iowa
Oct 24 2016 // The family of a Des Moines, Iowa woman who died of a prescription-drug overdose is appealing a judge’s rejection of their motion seeking to name the doctor’s former health system as defendants. Brandy...
University of Iowa Cites Copyright Law to Block Flood Video Use
Oct 21 2016 // University of Iowa is citing a copyright law to block the use of the university’s footage of a 2008 flood for an upcoming documentary. Doug Krejci, who is trying to gather materials for a documentary about eastern...
Iowa Company Recalls Cookie Dough Sold to Blue Bell, Other Firms
Oct 12 2016 // An Iowa company is recalling the cookie dough it sold to Blue Bell Creameries and other food companies because it may be contaminated with listeria bacteria. Dough-maker Aspen Hills notified customers about the recall on...
Council Bluffs, Iowa Repairing, Upgrading Flood Protection System
Oct 4 2016 // Council Bluffs, Iowa, officials are working to strengthen the levees protecting the western Iowa city before homeowners are forced to pay higher premiums for flood insurance. The Daily Nonpareil reports the city wants to...
Iowa Request for Federal Disaster Declaration Approved
Oct 4 2016 // The governor’s office says the White House has issued a presidential disaster declaration for eight Iowa counties hit hard by several storms in late August. The office of Gov. Terry Branstad said the counties are...
Berkshire’s Applied Underwriters Defends Workers’ Comp Products, Says Brokers Should Not Be at Risk
Oct 3 2016 // Legal and regulatory squabbles in New York, California and other states involving Berkshire Hathaway and its Applied Underwriter affiliates over particular workers’ compensation products should not have any negative...
Insurers in Iowa Asked to Provide Relief to Those Impacted by Flooding
Oct 3 2016 // In advance of expected late September flooding in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa-area, state Insurance Commissioner Nick Gerhart issued a bulletin requesting the assistance of both property/casualty and life/health insurance...
Iowa Insurance Division: Assessments for Second Injury Fund Total $8M
Oct 3 2016 // The Iowa Insurance Division reported that insurers and self-insured employers in the state are being assessed $8 million in order to pump up the coffers of the state’s Second Injury Fund. The IID said sufficient...
