ESTATE TALK
IRS Acquiesces: Stock Held by QTIP Trust Not Aggregated with Stock Held by Surviving Spouse
The IRS has announced acquiescence in the Tax Court's decision in Mellinger Est. v. Comr., 112 T.C. 26 (1999).

MEDI-MINUTES
Beverly Agrees to Largest Nursing Home Settlement in History
The nation's largest nursing home chain has agreed to pay a total of $175 million and to relinquish 10 nursing homes for defrauding Medicare.

NATIONAL NOTES
End-Of-Life Quality of Life Increasing
A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that quality of life is increasing for those in their final year of life.

MORE HEADLINES

OF INTEREST
HHS Releases "Healthy People 2010" Agenda for the Next Decade
Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala and Surgeon General David Satcher have released "Healthy People 2010," the nation's health goals for this decade.

RESOURCE CORNER
Medicare Learning Network
The Healthcare Financing Association has developed the Medicare Learning Network, a website established in response to increased Medicare health professional usage of the Internet as a learning source.

TAX TID-BITS
IRS Confirms Use of GRATs with S Corporation Stock
The IRS recently ruled that a grantor retained annuity trust (GRAT) that is taxable as a wholly owned grantor trust can be a shareholder of an S corporation.