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WalletPop:

Filed under: Debt, Health, Bankruptcy

The hospital where I gave birth to my two daughters — one less than six months ago — is shutting its obstetrics practice, selling two of their main buildings and reducing the number of overall beds in the hospital to just half of the official capacity. This glorious institution is not a post-Katrina victim or anything of the like. It’s a major urban hospital: the Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn Heights. And it owes $170 million to creditors.

This being Brooklyn, there are other hospitals in the area — even within walking distance. But there is something of a Starbucks mentality of real estate here, meaning that you could have a hospital on every corner and you’d find enough sick people for each one. Even Starbucks is keeping most of its New York outposts open during its closing spree of 600 stores.

So why close a hospital? The powers that be at LICH cite malpractice insurance and other costs of delivering babies as the major reason for closing that division. My OB actually left the hospital a few months ago because she didn’t like the office staff she had to share, and internal politics made it impossible for her to do anything about it. So maybe there’s a little tension behind the scenes that we don’t know about.

The ward where I gave birth, and subsequently paid $250 a night for a private room, is headed toward condos, it seems, and nearly 3,000 babies…

Startup Spark:

Yesterday, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship unanimously passed legislation that would reauthorize two  small business research programs. But, it took months to get it approved - and there are some compromises.

In the bill, Federal agencies with an annual extramural research and development budget of over $100 million are required to allocate 2.5 percent of their extramural R&D dollars to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

But the compromises include participation of companies majority owned and controlled by multiple venture capital companies.

So what do you think? Is this bill good for small businesses? I have my doubts.

Tags: legislation, senate bill, small-business, VC

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taxgirl® - tax news, tax info and tax policy:

Taxpayer asks:
My father my grandmother and (unofficially) I, are administers of a simple (non trust) estate for my recently deceased Uncle. the estate has hired an attorney, a funeral home, a grave tending service, and a guy to help clean the house he lived alone in, and sell personal property contained in the house. All of these payment exceed $600. Do i neeed to get each contractor to fill out a w-9 and then submit a 1099 to the IRS-and to the payee?

This is the relevant statute and reuglations and why I dont think we need to send 1099’s as part of the estate.

26 USC section 6041:

(a) Payments of $600 or more.–All persons engaged in a trade or business and making payment in the course of such trade or business to another person, of rent, salaries, wages, premiums, annuities, compensations, remunerations, emoluments, or other fixed or determinable gains, profits, and income (other than payments to which section 6042(a)(1), 6044(a)(1), 6047(e), 6049(a), or 6050N(a) applies, and other than payments with respect to which a statement is required under the authority of section 6042(a)(2), 6044(a)(2), or 6045), of $600 or more in any taxable year, or, in the case of such payments made by the United States, the officers or employees of the United States having information as to such payments and required to make returns in regard thereto by the regulations hereinafter provided for, shall render a true and accurate return to…

My Money Blog:

While logging on to my WaMu account I noticed (as did reader Alvin) that the WaMu savings account* is now paying 3.75% APY as of 7/31. Some pages still say 3.30%, but my account details confirm the 3.75% APY. (Login and click on “About this account”.) Or, click here and hit Apply Today, and you should see this:

Of course, if you read the news, you’ll know that Washington Mutual stock is being battered right now. Is this move a sign of desperation? If so, is this rate increase good news or bad news?

It’s All About The FDIC Limits
Well, if you have money over the FDIC insurance limits of $100,000 per titled account, I strongly suggest you stop reading right now and spread it out immediately. Your money is at risk. Here are some good options.

If you are under the limits, then your money is safe. The main things left to worry about are (1) easy access to money, (2) crediting of current interest earned, and (3) future interest rates. But hey, we already have two examples of struggling banks that give us an idea of what we might be in store for.

IndyMac Bank CD Example (FDIC takeover)
I believe that IndyMac failed on a Friday, and branches were closed that day. Over the weekend, branches were closed and the website was down. ATMs and debit cards still worked. By Monday, all the branches were open and the website was back up. Direct deposits, electronic transfers, and written checks…