THIS ISSUE'S HEADLINES

End-Of-Year Tax Planning Tips And What You Should Know For 2020

Know the Law: Rhode Island Supreme Court Dismisses Tenant Appeal


Project Nightingale: Take-Away Lesson for Providers and Payors



END-OF-YEAR TAX PLANNING TIPS AND WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW FOR 2020

As we approach the end of 2019, taxpayers need to be mindful to position themselves to minimize their state and federal income tax liability, which is due by April 15 of 2020. This is accomplished by accelerating deductions and deferring income. To accelerate deductions, an individual taxpayer should make sure all property tax payments for the entire calendar year up to the $10,000 limit are completed before December 31st, even if your city or town allows you to pay in installments into the next year. Another option is to make an extra mortgage payment and deduct the mortgage interest.

For business taxpayers, consider purchasing a new piece of equipment or other capital asset. Completing that purchase now may qualify the business for a deduction of 100% of the purchase price if the asset is placed in service this year. On the income deferral side, you may want to avoid trying to collect delinquent accounts until January to push some income into next year or ask for smaller up-front payments for projects that span this year and next. Also, consider sending out December invoices after the first of the year.

These are just a few of the tax planning tips PLDO Partner and estate, trust and tax attorney Gene M. Carlino provides in his advisory, End-Of-Year Tax Planning Tips And What You Should Know For 2020. If you have questions about estate planning and tax strategies for you, your family or your business, please contact Attorney Carlino at 401-824-5100 or email gcarlino@pldolaw.com.

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KNOW THE LAW: RHODE ISLAND SUPREME COURT DISMISSES TENANT APPEAL

In a recent Rhode Island Supreme Court decision, the Court summarily dismissed a residential tenantÕs appeal due to the tenantÕs failure to continue to pay rent during the pendency of the appeal. This requirement, which is set forth in section 34-18-52 of the Rhode Island General Laws, is often the downfall of a tenantÕs appeal in either the Superior or Supreme Court.

The matter before the Court was Naughton v. Guilloteau et al., No. 2019-6-Appeal, where the plaintiff/landlord brought an eviction against the defendant/tenant in the District Court. The District Court entered judgment for the landlord, and the tenant appealed that decision to the Superior Court. After a hearing at the Superior Court, judgment once again entered for the landlord. Undeterred, the tenant filed an appeal to the Supreme Court. However, while the appeal was pending before the Supreme Court, the tenant failed to continue to pay rent to the landlord. Because of this failure, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and affirmed the judgment of the Superior Court.

This case highlights a critical, but oftentimes unknown, provision of the Rhode Island General Laws regarding landlord tenant disputes. That provision states that during the pendency of an appeal, whether residential (¤ 34-18-52) or commercial (¤ 34-18.1-18), the tenant must continue to pay rent to the landlord or else risk having judgment enter against them. Anyone that finds themselves embroiled in a landlord-tenant dispute needs to be mindful of this requirement. For further information on this issue, please contact Attorney Patrick J. McBurney at 401-824-5100 or email pmcburney@pldolaw.com.

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PROJECT NIGHTINGALE: TAKE-AWAY LESSON FOR PROVIDERS AND PAYORS

There has been much ado lately about a newly-revealed joint venture between Ascension Medical Group and Google. Ascension is the nationÕs largest non-profit health care system; Ascension Medical Group is the companyÕs subsidiary physician group, with facilities in more than twenty states. Google is, well, Google. The joint venture being undertaken by these industry behemoths is known as ÒProject Nightingale.Ó Ascension and Google describe Nightingale as a treatment-focused initiative, designed to facilitate access and use of data in the medical records of AscensionÕs patients. It also involves migrating AscensionÕs data from proprietary storage to GoogleÕs cloud-based storage. The software tool developed from this initiative allegedly makes it easier for a doctor to access and use specific patient data such as recent test results, medications, and more.

The initiative appears to be squarely of the type that HIPAA (the package of laws that protect a patientÕs privacy) would permit to be undertaken by a providerÕs Òbusiness associate.Ó The two companies assert that they have signed a business associate agreement (ÒBAAÓ), and also assert that the terms of the agreement prohibit Google from using AscensionÕs PHI (Protected Health Information) for any other purpose than for provisioning this tool for use by Ascension clinicians. Further, the BAA allegedly prohibits Google from combining AscensionÕs patient data with Google consumer data.

Nightingale is now under scrutiny from the HHS Office of Civil Rights (ÒOCRÓ), the office charged with enforcing HIPAA. The agencyÕs examination comes as no surprise given the controversies around Big Tech companiesÕ mass collection of data, privacy rights and who exactly has access to personal information and why. To help health care providers and consumers understand the issue, PLDO health care attorney Joel K. Goloskie explores the Nightingale controversy in his latest advisory, Project Nightingale and the Take-Away Lesson for Providers and Payors. The thought-provoking article provides readers with information as to why Nightingale has received such a storm of whistleblower complaints, public backlash and now, an OCR investigation. If you have questions on Project Nightingale or need assistance for your organization, please contact Attorney Goloskie at 401-824-6100 or email jgoloskie@pldolaw.com.

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