connie warkins' daughter jessie, they also delivered a diagnosis. 38:22 "i had seen people that were downs syndrome, but i didn't really understand what it was about." that was 32 years ago, when help for people with intellectual disabilities wasn't easy to find. 54:00 forty years ago organizations like cottonwood were just beginning. cottonwood's mission is simple. 56:57 "we help people live their life. we help them work each day, we help them go about their routine day." a routine.. 1:19:30 "th's perry, vernon, mary. that's introduced jessie to coworkers she also calls friends. 01:24:55 "shelby!" but cottonwood is more than a community. for jessie, it's her job. 01:27:21 oh yes, i like my job. today, she's adding the ribbon cards, earning cash for each card. once she's done, a cottonwood bus will drive her to one of the group's apartments.. which she shares with coworkers. it's long-term, community based care that jessie's mom relies on. 42:56 it eases my mind a lot. but at the state's capitol, home and community based services are at the center of a messy medicaid battle. 23:01:15 i cared for medicaid patients, i had to bill through medicaid. kansas representativ e barbara bollier is a retired doctor. she says putting private insurance companies in charge of care shifts the focus to dollars instead of people. 22:53:57 "the numbeeone priority should always be the patient, not the money. when things start moving toward only focusing on money, i worry." worry senator laura kelly kelly sits on the kancare oversight committee. but lawmakers have little power to oversee the operations of private companies. instead, the committee is more of a listening post - hearing complaints from people or companies with little power to help. but kelly says the politicians on the committee don't even understand the medicaid system. a problem she says iowa can avoid. 22:42:17 "put people who are actually out in the trenches doing this work who can then ask the questions, or interpret the data in a way that makes sense in their world, and provide that for legislators who can then set the policy." kelly also worries for the thousands of people who use home and community based services. they're an expensive population. in iowa, that group cost the state more than 622 million dollars last year alone. but it's care that can't be 22:37:27 "there is no way to save money with those programs unless you absolutely deny entrance into the program, you cut back on services, or you pay the providers less." inside kansas hospitals.. 23:48:27 "it was overwhelming for us." administrators say the system is confusing. 23:55:43 "learning all the different requirements the three mco's ask of us, it was difficult at first. and then once you feel like you can manage that, they begin to change and give us different requirements. you are continually trying to stay on top of the new rules." nats of calculator that confusion leads to more denied claims, forcing providers here to hire more staff. ultimately costing hospitals more money. but it's also hurting services to patients. 02:55 "there was one line of we just stopped doing because we could not figure out what the mco's wanted." the iowa department of side is where mco's here are looking to cut costs - through outcomes like fewer er visits and coordinating multiple types of care in one visit. cottonwood but at places like working where medicaid is a lifeline for jessie.. 37:25 she's my girl. and thousands more.. jessie cuts are already starting. while we were visiting cottonwood, the agency got its first notice - an m- c-o saying it would no longer cover a patient there after a review... saying the level of care was too much. people here say speaking up before the switch may be the only solution. 01:11:48 "i would say advocate, keep your advocacy voice strong." to protect the lives of people who can't speak up for themselves. 01:14:00 "she's got a good life, and thats our goal for everyone here, we "about 25 thousand iowans need the same home and community based services like the ones jessie relies on, but they're just a small fraction of iowans who rely on medicaid. we do know that all three companies are losing millions of dollars right now, meaning they are looking to cut costs. it also raises a bigger concern - if the m-c-o's keep losing money and decide to leave, the state may be left with no one to manage its medicaid program. i also spoke with a representative of providers like cottonwood across kansas, who says mco's aren't equipped to manage home and community services. look for that extended interview under this story on kcrg dot com." the governor announced a new program this morning that aims to help iowans be healthier and reduce expenses for medicaid and medicare. six organizations, including linn county public health, received grants totaling 1- point-3 million dollars as part of the state innovation model initiative. the goal of this initiative is to reduce iowa's obesity rate and tobacco use, while also iowans out of the emergency department. these federal dollars also aim to decrease health care costs and improve health outcomes through a national effort by the center for medicare and medicaid innovation. the university of iowa's interim public safety director is in trouble for not cooperating with officers during a drunken hit-and-run incident involving his stepson. court records show dave visin's stepson, sean carter, was drunk when his truck hit two cars outside of a bar on june 25th. visin picked up carter and drove away from the scene, and he refused to pull over when police tried to stop them. visin claims he didn't know anything about carter's collision. he dropped carter off at a gas station and left before police got there. iowa workforce development decided that people who were overpaid unemployment benefits two years ago won't have to return the money. a faulty phone system caused nearly 16-hundred people to receive the nearly 434-thousand dollars. it all happened over the first three months of 2014. iowa senator bill dotzler, who's on the workforce development board, says trying to collect the money now would result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney and collection fees. an audit shows the overpayments were part of more than 900-thousand dollars the state lost to scams and errors over three years. "we're hoping it's a blip, and we're hoping next year we get students back " one small eastern iowa school district is dealing with declining enrollment and steep budget cuts. that's next here on kcrg one small eastern iowa school district is preparing to make some big cuts. the highland community school district in riverside is preparing to cut its budget by 500- thousand dollars. the superintenden t blames the projected cuts on declining enrollment and not enough state funding. the superintenden t says pretty much everything is on the table for possible cuts. that includes the possibility of closing this elementary school in ainsworth. the district's also considering cutting teachers and administrator s. one parent with two children in the highland district says the leaders must keep kids in mind throughout the budget process. " the number one focus needs to be, what to do with these kids, and what is going to be the least detrimental to these children, and the least disruptive." abby sojka says she plans to move her kids district next year because of the budget issues. final budget decisions should come next month. vandals in lisbon literally painted the town. police think vandals spray painted these phrases on two lisbon school buildings, sometime between february 20th and 21st. two downtown businesses were tagged too, "d and d body shop" and hills bank. the chief thinks they're all connected. he says security footage from the school suggests there were multiple vandals. the city says it can be tough to prevent crimes like this in small towns because of a limited police force. "kids get bored. people don't have anything to do and they're out. you can run the streets a little bit easier in small towns than you can in big cities" police say they don't have any suspects, but do have some leads. call linn county crime stoppers if you have any info. the hawkeye men's basketball team fell in this week's a-p poll. basketball state tournament kicked off today in des moines. snow and a wintry mix develop late this evening in the north and spread southward through the night. a dusting to two inches looks likely south of highway 20, although amounts will quickly increase near the highway 20 corridor with localized totals higher than amounts taper off near the minnesota border. snow ends early on tuesday, with another chance of snow arriving thursday. highs stay close to freezing this week, but warmth builds once again this weekend and beyond. today: m/cloudy, falling temps high: 42-48 winds: nw 15-25tonight: snow and wintry mix low: 21-27 winds: ne 15-25tomorrow: chance of snow early high: 26-32 winds: n 10-20low: 11-17 winds: nw 5-10wednesday: mostly cloudy high: 37 - low: 14 thursday: chance of light snow high: 35 - low: 27 friday: partly cloudy high: 37 - low: 22 saturday: partly sunny high: 46 - low: 28 sunday: partly cloudy, mild high: 59 - low: 34 monday: partly cloudy high: 65 - we are getting ready for on iowa live in just a few minutes over on kcrg 9.2. we have a great show tonight the legend dan gable is here to talk about the big 10 championships this week in iowa city and the olympic trials.. he will be joined by 2 time ncaa champ mark ironside plus the state champion alburnett wrestling team. it should be a great show. to hoops and the hawkeyes fell to 16th in the ap poll today after their third straight loss yesterday at ohio state.. the cyclones are ranked 21st in today's ap poll and they are hosting okey state on senior night. i will have highlights at 10:00. the girls state basketball tournament tipped off today in des moines. john campbell has highlights. the orioles responded by the breakout to maddy wagaman. how about the inside presence of mikayla nachazel. springville by 6 at the break. the birds upped the lead to 14 on the feed to rylee menster. she also hit some key free throws at the end and springville knocks off kingsley pierson 60-53 thanks in part to 24 points from nachazel. "she is a dynamic post player.she can use both hands. footwork both ways" the trojans took control early. emily busta from long range.sadie nymeyer plugs the meter. before half shelby reicks slices the mt, ayr defense. 33-25 at the break. it was a 2 point game with 2 mins to go and reicks comes through again from the field and from the line. she had 17 and turkey valley holds off my ayr 55-51. on a roll i try my best to make things happen by driving or getting other people open."kee high's state tourney debut not as memorable. courtney cooper connects and their 9 pt halftime lead was down to 2. they were still on top on the fourth when mykayla gavin is ther for the outback. but burlington norte dame opened things up. riley mcbride rainbow three. later emma lynch inside and the nikes knock off kee high 55-51. john campbell tv9 sports and finally it's time for a special edition of john's big ol' fish. batting leadoff on our first feb 29 big ol fish since 1988 is lily rundall of marion and her ellis park bluegill. now it is karter duffy and the huge dcrappie he nailed at rush lake. young mason jedlicka of dubuque observes the 28 inch sheephead he caught with grandpa cat. travis cave caught the 12 pounder at lake belva deer. aj vallee of dubuque landed this beautiful rainbow at heritage pond... aiden mcnamer was also there with grandpa meyer. way to go buddy ro. the young man on the left, charlie schrader caught this 29 inch walleye. dad rick and sister catie along for the ride. another walleye : gage walshire of olin nailed it in the wapsi. and wrapping up this historic leap day big ol fish is hunter hamer who broke his pole catching this lunker. until our next leap day big ol fish in 2044, this is john campbell reporting. we hope you'll be with us again tonight at ten. tt2watv# -4 bt@qq if you can't get me to stop eating your food, what makes you think you can get me to stop using your wi-fi? i believe that you're capable of great change. like when i finally got you to stop saying "valentimes day." you want to hear something weird? sure. in the year 2000, pope john paul ii was named an honorary harlem globetrotter. what are you talking about? you asked penny if she wanted to hear something weird. yeah, because i have something weird to tell her. oh. i thought it was a game. what's yours? there's this guy, jimmy speckerman, who used to torment me in high school. he sent me a message through facebook. he's in town and wants to have drinks. okay, penny, if it were a game, here are your choices. an e-mail from an old acquaintance, or the head of one of the largest religious institutions