DNR: Iowa rivers, lakes still too cold to kayak, canoe
Agency says water usually is warm enough in May
Despite a stretch of days with record-high temperatures tempting Iowans, it’s not yet safe to head out on the water. Bodies of water in Iowa are still too cold to safely go kayaking, canoeing and the like, and paddlers opting to get out on the water now should know the risk.
“When it comes to paddling and being out on a river especially, we have to play it smart and this is a real dangerous time of year now and late fall,”
Todd Robertson, Iowa Department of Natural Resources water trails coordinator, told the Des Moines Register.
Iowa DNR recommends paddlers wait for consistent, warm weather, which will ensure water temperatures reach safe levels, before getting out on the water.
When can paddlers go out on the water in Iowa?
The for safe water activities is “weather dependent,” Robertson said.
almost identical to that of Iowa in 2022, but its MFCU budget was more than double Iowa’s.
Inspector general questions funding, staffing
The Iowa MFCU, which is housed within the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing, had a total of nine staffers in 2022, which included five investigators, according to the national association. Only four other states in the nation had fewer total MFCU staff, and only nine had fewer investigators.
In 2022, the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reviewed the work of Iowa’s MFCU and praised it for operating effectively and achieving “high case outcomes.” But the inspector general also said the unit was leaving positions vacant and was not maintaining its own approved staffing levels.
The low staffing levels were partly the result of a “significant turnover of investigators” which in turn contributed to high caseloads, the inspector general said. Iowa was spending about $759 million on Medicaid per MFCU employee at a time when only two other states in the nation were reporting a higher disparity between total Medicaid spending and spending on investigations.
Iowa resists hiring more investigators
Federal data indicates Iowa’s staffing issue dates back several years. Although Iowa’s unit was approved for 11 employees in the years 2019, 2020 and 2021, it actually employed seven or eight individuals at the end of each of those years.
Nearly all of the staff vacancies during that time consisted of investigator positions, the inspector general reported, noting that while the budget had allowed for seven investigators, only four were employed there at the end of each fiscal year.
The inspector general also found that during the three-year period, six investigators had left the unit. Four of them were employed there only a short time — one week to 15 months — and two of those four didn’t complete the six-month probationary period.
Even if all of the vacant positions were filled, the inspector general reported, the Iowa unit’s staffing levels remained low compared to all other fraud- control units in the nation. The staffing shortage resulted in the investigators handling as many as 20 open cases at a time, far above the unit’s preferred 12 to 15, the inspector general reported.
The inspector general recommended that Iowa assess the adequacy of the unit’s staffing levels and said adding more staff “would ultimately enhance the unit’s ability to protect the Medicaid program and its beneficiaries.”
The state disagreed. While it hired an additional investigator after the inspector general’s visit, it argued that its current staffing levels were sufficient.
“Nine full-time employees are adequate at this time to operate effectively and efficiently,” DIAL Director Larry Johnson told the inspector general’s office. “Specifically, five investigators are sufficient to respond to current referral intakes.”
The unit, he said, had “reasonable caseloads to keep investigators working diligently” and was not “using taxpayer funds to employ unnecessary personnel.”
The Iowa Capital Dispatch’s calls to the Iowa Medicaid Fraud Control Unit were referred to the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing, which declined to comment on the data from the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units or the inspector general’s recommendations, other than to cite Johnson’s letter.
Find this story at Iowa Capital Dispatch, which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: kobradovich@iowacapitaldispatch.com.