ESTATE TALK
Income Beneficiary's Death Qualifies Split-Interest Trust for Charitable Deducation
In a recent federal district court ruling, a decedent’s split-interest trust qualified for a charitable deduction because the income beneficiary died before the estate tax return was due.

LEGAL LINES
Retroactive Estate Tax Increase Was Not Unconstitutional
The Court of Federal Claims has ruled that the retroactive increase in the top estate and gift tax rates under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (OBRA ’93) is not unconstitutional.

MEDI-MINUTES
Medicare Expands Coverage of PET Scans
The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) has announced that it is expanding Medicare coverage of positron emission tomography (PET), an innovative imaging technology, to improve the care of patients who have or may have one of six types of cancer. 

NATIONAL NOTES
IOM Long-Term Care Report Released
The Institutes of Medicine (IOM) have released the long-awaited report on long-term care in the United States. This is the first report on long-term care the IOM has released since its 1986 study that prompted the creation of the current federal nursing facility certification system.

NEWS YOU CAN USE
Harsh Winter Raises Seniors' Risk of Hypothermia
Older people who lower the thermostat to cut heating bills raise their risk of hypothermia, a potentially fatal condition in which the body’s temperature drops for a prolonged period, says a National Institute on Aging (NIA) scientist. 

OF INTEREST
HHS Releases Medical Records Privacy Regulations
HHS has released the nation’s first standards for protecting the privacy of Americans’ personal health records. 

TAX TID-BITS
Final Regs for GST Tax
The IRS has issued final regulations concerning the types of trust changes that will not affect the trust’s exempt status for generation-skipping transfer (GST) taxes.