West Bend Journal (Newspaper) - August 10, 2000, West Bend, Iowa SINGLE ISSUE 450 VOLUME CXXXI August 2000 NUMBER 32 Notices Energy Update My Thoughts 4 Bygone Days Iowa State Bank Statement of Condition 6 Classifieds 7 West Bend Highlights 8 Ottosen News 8 Governor Tom left congratulates Lannie Miller on his ap pointment on the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Com MILLER ATTENDS ORIENTATION MEETING Des Moines Lannie Miller of West Bend attended an orientation meeting for new and reappointed state board and commission members in Des Moines on August Miller has been appointed by Gov ernor Tom Vilsack to serve as a mem ber of Mental Health and Develop mental Disabilities At the meeting Miller met with Governor Vilsack to discuss the administrations policies and goals in creating opportunities for more lo younger and better paid Vilsack outlined six strategies that will enable Iowa to grow and pros per in the new The six areas of the Adminis trations Leadership Agenda are Edu Health Safe Communi New and Accountable Vilsack also stated that each member has an important responsibility in represent ing the voices of lowans across the state and that they be innovative and reach out to all lowans in making our state the best place to and raise a Board members will provide their thoughts and advice to the Governor and Governor as they prepare the Leadership Agenda for the 2001 Leg CHANGES AHEAD FOR MEDICARE COINSURANCE RATES The Palo Alto County Health Sys tem has provided us with this news release to serve as a customer ser vice to inform area residents about the changes ahead in their ance The Medicare program has changed the way it pays for hospital outpatient beginning August This change will in turn af fect the coinsurance rates of Medi care In the Balanced Budget Act of Congress provided for a change in the way Medicare pays for hospi tal outpatient Reimburse ment under the new payment system is based on rather than lo cal Medi care will set the payment rates for outpatient services that hospitals pro vide to Medicare Medi care beneficiaries will then pay a co insurance rate based on a national rather than on the local hospital Because of hospitals will have no control whether ones co insurance will increase or Medicares new system over time will ultimately lower the overall ance for outpatient Thats why the AARP fully supported this at the your coinsurance may either increase or decrease depending on where you live and what services you Why Under Medicares new hospitals do not determine how much they will be paid for providing a ser Medicare co insurance amounts will rise in the rural areas due to hospitals histori cally providing services for less than the national And while the patient may pay a higher coinsurance for certain outpatient Medi care still pays hospitals less than the cost of providing your Outpatient services that will be af by this new payment system include same day and some emergency room Based on the old Medicare estimates that Medicare beneficiaries are paying about half the amount for many outpatient The new payment system sets specific pay ment rates for services and sets the copayment that you have to These copayments might be higher than you were paying but will remain as the total payment rate in This payment continues un til the copayment equals 20 of the total For example Under the new the total payment rate for a certain service is and the national unadjusted copayment is There the beneficiary could be responsible for 84 of the to tal payment to the provider for this service this co CHAMBER GROTTO RECEIVE FUNDS WESTERN IOWA FROM TOURISM TOURISM GRANTS Organizations in Palo Alto County have been awarded this year to complete tourism West Bend Chamber of Commerce re for billboard Grotto of the Redemption re for display of promo tional and Palo Alto County Island Prairie Wetland received for The funds were awarded by the Western Iowa Tourism Re gional in cooperation with the Iowa Division of Iowa Depart ment of Economic v The Western Iowa Tourism Re gion serves 36 counties in the west ern onethird of Nonprofit events and attractions within this area were eligible for in grant funds for tourism adver tising and 60 requests to taling were received this Selection of grant recipients is an increasingly difficult noted Dave Carroll County Conser vation Director and Advertising Se lection Committee West ern Iowa continues to see an increase in private and public investment in tourism related projects and and we are pleased that grant dollars can assist with improving Western Iowa attractions and The Western Iowa Tourism Re gion has been excited about the in terest in promoting tourism in West ern Iowa and will continue to work with the Iowa Division of Tourism to encourage funding programs for lo cal reports Lana Presi dent of the Western Iowa Tourism Michele Executive tor of the Western Iowa Tourism Re states that consumer interest in Western is increasing each year and that cooperative advertising and in creased funds for promotion will con to add to the visitor numbers in Western RIBBON CUTTING West Bend Chamber Members congratulate Don Montag of Montag Don officially took over his Mark Montags busi ness on August Shown left to right at the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony are Scott Mayor of West Carl Christy Mader President of West Bend Mark Don Dianne Don Miller and Howard all Chamber Three Western Iowa Tourism grants were recently awarded to ap in Palo Alto One project is the creation of a photo dis play promoting cultural and historical sites within the county for tourism It is hoped that this display could be used at events like the Legislative Tourism Night down in Des Moines each Pats Celebration in and at sites like the Grotto of Redemption in West Iowa Lakes Commu or the Lost Island Prai rie Wetland Nature Center near just to name a The Palo Alto County Supervisors have agreed to match grant funds for this The second grant will go toward the cost of publishing a brochure highlighting places to go bird watch ing within a six county region in Northwest This project is a partnership between many agencies including Palo Kossuth and OBrien County Conservation Northern Iowa Prairie Northwest Federal and several conservation foundations and ant Forever and Ducks Unlimited This publication should be out by late A third grant was awarded to West Bend Chamber of Commerce for board advertising on Hwy 169 to pro mote their It is exciting that Palo Alto County has received three grants from West ern Iowa Tourism Region this Partnerships with other organizations to match grant funding and complete these projects is an important com ponent of their DONT FORGET TO REGISTER FOR SCHOOL SEE PAGE payment will be fixed as the total payment rate increases in 2002 to the benefi ciary would still pay which is now 76 of the total This process contin ues until the copayment equals 20 of the total pay This system will gradually lower the percentage of the cost that you have to pay for these services until they reach Medicare has drastically reduced payments to hospitals for many key health care services you depend on and Hospitals have been walk ing a having to provide the same high quality services for less Many are struggling to make ends meet so they can con providing services to their pa These programs have hit rural areas the most since they have his provided services at a lower cost than the national one thing hospitals will not comprise on is their mission to provide the best care they possibly can to the Medi care beneficiaries and all the patients they If you have questions about the new Medicare Outpatient Payment you can call the Medicare helpline at 1800MEDICAREorcall Palo Alto County Hospitals business office at AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITY MUST WORK TO MAKE THEIR OWN HEADLINES A COMMENTARY ON AGRICULTURAL ISSUES AND EVENTS By Aaron Iowa Farm Bureau Believe it or there was a day when everyone understood produc tion agriculture because everyone harvested their own But just as food production has has the general publics knowledge of farming and their comprehension of how food arrives on their kitchen courtesy of Americas farms and From advocates to envi agriculture is under attack on many fronts leaving farmers to defend not just what they but how they do And since most farmers are shy and independent by their way of life is usually left to the interpretation of more ken groups who only wish to cham pion their own selfish This must change because consumers need to hear both sides of the The latest rhetoric can be found in a recent campaign titled Got Beer Created by the People for the Ethical Treatment of animals it asserted that a can of beer is a healthier choice than a glass of While the beef of the campaign was absolute the message gol which was exactly what PETA In just a few a blitz of press releases had found their way onto the pages of many pers and PETA spokespersons could be heard on the NBC Today The message that college students should wipe off those milk mus taches and replace them PETA quickly pulled the cam citing concerns brought to them by Mothers Against Drunk But they report on their web site that they will continue their dump dairy campaign but from a dif ferent While it was the dairy industry under attack this its anyones guess as to what segment of ag pro duction will be targeted Thats why the associations to which they belong and allied indus must work together to create their own This can be accomplished in sev eral Public speaking can be sought at the local level to help educate communities about agricultures impact on their daily Questionable und misleading whether they air on net work TV or appear in the local news must be challenged with a thoughtful Any proactive efforts such as open houses and farm tours should be conducted to help consumers gain the knowledge they need to quickly dispose of erroneous publicity An understanding and appreciation of food production among the gen eral public can no longer be taken for PETAs latest campaign should serve as a communications call to action for all those involved in
