The 2017 Tax Act and Settlement Trusts

By any measure, the enactment of the Alaska Native provisions of the 2017 Tax Act was an extraordinary achievement by the Alaska congressional delegation. Although the ANCSA Amendments Act of 1987 first permitted Alaska Native Corporations to establish “settlement trusts” to benefit their shareholders, relatively few settlement trusts have been established to date due to various obstacles posed by the Internal Revenue Code. The 2017 Tax Act removed a significant hurdle by permitting Alaska Native Corporations to claim a tax deduction for transfers to a settlement trust, thereby allowing such transfers to occur on a pre-tax basis rather than on the after-tax basis as was the rule prior to the new legislation. The 2017 Tax Act also provides tax certainty with regard to assignments to a settlement trust of certain payments required by ANCSA such as those under section 7(j), which should encourage Alaska Native Corporations to use such assignments to fund settlement trusts in convenient annual installments. To the extent that ambiguities exist as to the Alaska Native provisions of the Act, those provisions should be interpreted in favor of the Alaska Native entities and individuals that seek to utilize those provisions in accordance with canons of statutory construction for Indian Law and ANCSA

Luther Midelfort Mayo Health System: Laying Tracks for Success

Describes strategies for establishing a culture of experimentation, including creating interdisciplinary teams to decide the content of care and providing timely measurement and feedback

Flowers Hospital: Nearing Perfection on Core Measures

Describes elements of a strategy for achieving high process-of-care performance by continuously monitoring patients in four clinical areas and ensuring they receive the right care -- including concurrent reviews and quality improvement teams

Memorial Healthcare System: A Public System Focusing on Patient- and Family-Centered Care

Outlines a successful multifaceted strategy that includes personalizing healthcare quality, monitoring and reporting of performance data, careful design of care processes, and the system's vertical and horizontal integration. Lists lessons learned

Carolinas Medical Center: Demonstrating High Quality in the Public Sector

Outlines safety and quality improvement strategies including electronic medical records, multi­disciplinary teams accountable to leadership, reporting of performance indicators; and redesigned care processes. Discusses physician buy-in and nurses' roles

Parkwest Medical Center: Focusing on Patient and Staff Satisfaction

Outlines the strategies and factors behind high patient satisfaction, including a culture of teamwork and care coordination, based on a module that aligns performance standards for administrators, managers, and staff, reinforced with merit increases

Multicultural Considerations for Building Learning Communities

Educational policies call for inclusion and attention to cultural differences in our schools. Administrators, classroom educators, counselors, and other support staff attempt to attend to students through a cooperative effort of connecting with the community beyond the school building, as well as the families represented within it. As Christians, there is a higher calling to truly embrace those often underserved in our learning communities. This paper will address multicultural issues important for United States and United Kingdom school system staff to be mindful of when focusing on students and their families

High temperature circuit breaker

Alternating current circuit breaker is suitable for reliable long-term service at 1000 deg F in the vacuum conditions of outer space. Construction materials are resistant to nuclear radiation and vacuum welding. Service test conditions and results are given

Gaston Memorial Hospital: Driving Quality Improvement With Data, Guidelines, and Real-Time Feedback

Describes efforts to reduce variance in provider practice patterns through data analysis and benchmarking of process-of-care measures. Discusses strategies such as sharing data, feedback, and best practices in ways physicians can utilize them immediately