DAILY UPDATE: Norton Healthcare Hacked – Pharma Chains Give Health Data to Police and the Stock Markets Climb

By Staff Reporters

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SPONSOR: http://www.MarcinkoAssociates.com

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Kentucky-based healthcare provider Norton Healthcare has confirmed that it has suffered a significant ransomware attack that may have put the data of millions of its patients at risk. In a filing to the Maine Attorney General on December 8th, the healthcare giant said that 2.5 million individuals had been affected by the breach.

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Meanwhile, the nation’s largest pharmacy chains have handed over Americans’ prescription records to police and government investigators without a warrant, a congressional investigation found, raising concerns about threats to medical privacy. Though some of the chains require their lawyers to review law enforcement requests, three of the largest — CVS Health, Kroger and Rite Aid, with a combined 60,000 locations nationwide — said they allow pharmacy staff members to hand over customers’ medical records in the store.

The policy was revealed in a letter sent to Xavier Becerra, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.).

HIPAA anyone?

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Here’s where the major benchmarks ended:

  • The S&P 500 index was up 21.26 points (0.5%) at 4,643.70; the Dow Jones Industrial Average®(DJI) was up 173.01 points (0.5%) at 36,577.94; the NASDAQ Composite® (COMP) was up 100.91 points (0.7%) at 14,533.40.
  • The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX) was down about 3 basis points at 4.206%.
  • The CBOE® Volatility Index (VIX) was down 0.56 at 12.07.

Technology shares were among Tuesday’s strongest performers despite a 12% drop in Oracle (ORCL), which plunged after reporting lighter-than-expected quarterly revenue late Monday. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) posted its highest close since January 2022.

Financial shares were also firm. Energy shares were under pressure because WTI Crude Oil futures (/CL) extended a slump below $70 per barrel and settled at its lowest price since late June.

Here is where the major benchmarks ended:

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Why You CAN’T Turn Your Roth IRA Into a Billion-Dollar Tax Shelter

By Nadia Sussman, Sherene Strausberg and Justin Elliott

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Series: The Secret IRS Files Inside the Tax Records of the .001%

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The Roth IRA: What It Is and How It Works | Personal ...

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Last week, ProPublica published the story of how PayPal co-founder and tech investor Peter Thiel was able to turn a Roth IRA initially worth around $2,000 into a jaw-dropping $5 billion tax-free retirement stash in just 20 years.

The story is even more remarkable because Congress created the Roth IRA in 1997 to encourage middle-class Americans to save for their golden years. Most Americans have struggled to do even that; the average account was worth about $39,000 in 2018. But Thiel and other billionaires have managed to turn their mundane Roths into giant onshore tax shelters.

Thiel was able to launch his Roth into the stratosphere through a complicated strategy involving the purchase of nonpublic stock at bargain prices — the kind of deal most people can’t access. Experts say it risked running afoul of rules designed to prevent IRAs from becoming illegal tax shelters. (Thiel’s spokesman didn’t respond to questions.)

Other ultrawealthy Americans have used different means to build Roths worth tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden is now looking at how to end the use of the Roth as “yet another tax dodge that allows mega millionaires and billionaires to avoid paying taxes.”

How are they able to do it while you can’t? Check out our explainer of one way the Roth works for the ultrawealthy and not for you.

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Chairman Bernanke Advocates Tax Reform

Reform Coming in 2011?

By The Children’s Home Society of Florida Foundation

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Chairman of the Federal Reserve [the FED], Ben Bernanke met January 7th 2011 with the Senate Budget Committee. He spoke on the topic of tax reform during 2011. According to sources, Mr. Bernanke noted, “Greater clarity and certainty is obviously beneficial, and to the extent you can create more certainty about where the tax code is going to be over the next couple years, that would be helpful.”

Budget Committee Seems to Agree

Chairman Bernanke and the Senate members of the Budget Committee all noted that with the current weak economy and high level of unemployment, it is a very key year for potentially reforming the tax code. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) joined with Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) to introduce the bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2010. Sen. Wyden noted, “The big idea for economic growth in our country is fundamental tax reform, where you go in there and clean out this job-killing, thoroughly discredited mess.” Senate Budget Chair Kent Conrad (D-ND) agreed that the tax code “is just completely out of date.” He responded, “It does not take account of the world that we live in today.”

Assessment

In the House, the new Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Dave Camp (R-MI), also showed interest in tax reform during 2011. He suggested that it will be necessary to “streamline the tax code that today is too costly, too complex and too burdensome for families and employers.”

Editor’s Note: Both House and Senate Finance Leaders will be holding hearings this year on tax reform. Because 2011 is not an election year, it is a potentially good year for major tax reform. As was evident from the tax bill that was signed in December 2010, tax reform will require compromise between the Senate, the House and the White House. However, with the unemployment rate currently at 9.4%, there is now a growing consensus on the need for continued improvements in the tax system in order to reduce unemployment.

Conclusion

And so, your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Does the tax code, and IRS, need revising? Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.

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