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JetBlue is scaling back its 2022 growth plans to no more than 5% to avoid further flight disruptions.
The airline previously said it expected to grow as much as 15% this year.
Airlines have been forced to rethink growth plans as they grapple with weather delays, tight staffing and higher fuel costs.

Technicians inspect a JetBlue Embraer 190 aircraft at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, December 7, 2021.
Chris Helgren | Reuters

JetBlue Airways fell more than 11% Tuesday after the airline slashed its growth plans to avoid a repeat of headaches for travelers and crews during peak season.
The New York-based carrier canceled hundreds of flights earlier this month during bad weather in Florida, disruptions that affected other airlines like Fort Lauderdale-based Spirit Airlines, which JetBlue is attempting to acquire. JetBlue told crews it expects to cut its spring and summer schedule by 8% to 10%, CNBC previously reported.

JetBlue said in a quarterly release that its capacity could be flat to up 5% this year compared with 2019, down from a planned expansion of 15% this year.
Spirit Airlines and Alaska Airlines have also trimmed their schedules.
Airlines have been forced to rethink growth plans as they grapple with seasonal weather delays, tight staffing and higher fuel costs even though travel demand — and fares — have soared in recent months. JetBlue said its average fare rose to $195.99 in the first quarter compared with $149.97 in the same period of 2021.
JetBlue, like other airlines, is also scrambling to staff up. Carriers have shed thousands of workers since 2020, urging them to take buyouts to reduce labor costs, since a $54 billion government payroll support package to weather the coronavirus pandemic prohibited them from firing workers.
“In addition to general staffing, JetBlue is working through a backlog of pilot training and re-certification flights after delays from Omicron,” JetBlue said in a release, referring to the Covid variant. “Volatile pilot attrition is also creating a need for additional recruiting and training capacity.”

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United is planning to increase trans-Atlantic capacity 25% this summer compared with 2019.
The airline last year announced several new destinations like Jordan, Portugal’s Azores and the Canary Islands.

A United Airlines passenger aircraft arrives over the top of residential houses to land at Heathrow Airport in west London, Britain, March 13, 2020.
Matthew Childs | Reuters

United Airlines says demand for trans-Atlantic travel is heating up, despite higher fuel prices and the Ukraine war.
The airline plans to fly 25% more across the Atlantic this peak spring and summer travel season compared with 2019, including new destinations it unveiled last fall such as Bergen, Norway; Amman, Jordan; and Portugal’s Azores. United is adding new routes and frequencies, including service to London, Zurich, Munich, Milan and Nice, France.

The stronger demand “was something that we anticipated and it’s something we’re seeing results of,” Patrick Quayle, United’s senior vice president of international network and alliances, said on a call with reporters Monday.
Domestic U.S. roundtrip fares currently average $357, up 23% from three years ago while international fares from the U.S. are 1% below 2019 levels at $848, according to travel and fare-tracking company Hopper.
United is ramping up its schedule as the airline faces several challenges: the longer-than-expected process to resume flying its 52 Pratt & Whitney-powered Boeing 777s after an engine failure last year, delivery delays of new Boeing Dreamliners, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a surge in costs.
“We have not seen any softness in terms of demand,” Quayle said of the carrier’s easternmost European destinations, such as Germany or Croatia. But, he added, there might be some impact on demand for connections to cities farther east in countries like Poland and Romania that are served by United’s partner Lufthansa.
Quayle also said United is logging “robust” demand for more expensive products like its Polaris business class and its premium economy class for trans-Atlantic flights. He also said that business travel across the Atlantic is returning.
The grounded 777s are on track to return in mid-May, and the airline isn’t planning to ramp up capacity beyond its current schedule if they come back earlier. However, Quayle said the planes could be used for cargo flights, which have been a bright spot during the Covid pandemic.

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Rep. Madison Cawthorn was cited on a misdemeanor criminal charge of possessing a dangerous weapon on city property Tuesday morning for bringing a loaded handgun to an airport in North Carolina, police said
The incident is the second time that Cawthorn, R-N.C., was stopped at an airport in his home state for carrying a weapon.
Cawthorn recently has been in hot water for driving without a valid license, and for claiming that other members of Congress were using drugs and inviting him to orgies.

Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., is seen in the U.S. Capitol as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., spoke at length on the House floor to delay the Build Back Better Act vote on Thursday, November 18, 2021.
Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

Rep. Madison Cawthorn was cited on a misdemeanor criminal charge of possessing a dangerous weapon on city property Tuesday morning for bringing a loaded handgun to an airport in North Carolina, police said
The incident is the second time that Cawthorn, R-N.C., was stopped at an airport in his home state for carrying a weapon.

Cawthorn recently has been in hot water for driving without a valid license, and for claiming that other members of Congress were using drugs and inviting him to orgies. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has said there was no evidence for Cawthorn’s claims.
The 26-year-old lawmaker was cited in the latest incident at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Mecklenburg County on Tuesday after Transportation Security Administration workers at a security screening checkpoint detected the gun, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department told WCNC TV in Charlotte.
“Responding CMPD officers identified the owner of the bag containing the firearm as David Madison Cawthorn,” police said.
“Mr. Cawthorn stated that the firearm was his and he was cooperative with the CMPD officers,” according to the CMPD.
“Mr. Cawthorn was issued a citation for Possession of a Dangerous Weapon on City Property, which is a City of Charlotte Ordinance,” police said.

“Mr. Cawthorn was released, and the CMPD took possession of the firearm, which is normal procedure. It is standard procedure for the CMPD Airport Division to cite in lieu of arrest for the misdemeanor charge of Possession of a Dangerous Weapon on City Property unless there are other associated felony charges or extenuating circumstances.”
A TSA spokesman said TSA workers found a loaded Staccato 9mm handgun at an airport checkpoint around 9 a.m. ET. The spokesman, who said the agency had a policy of not identifying individuals involved in weapons incidents, also provided a photograph of the seized gun.
Cawthorn also faces potential civil penalties from TSA. Under agency rules, a person who violates weapons regulations at an airport could be fined up to about $13,000, and aggravating factors in considering fines are whether a firearm was loaded and whether a person has previously committed offenses of TSA rules.

A firearm detected at Checkpoint D at CLT this morning at approximately 9 a.m. (a loaded Staccato 9mm handgun), however, TSA does not release passenger information in any incident.
Courtesy: TSA

The Mecklenburg District Attorney’s Office, which prosecutes people found with guns at airports, said in a statement, “The District Attorney’s Office will assess this case as it does any other, factoring in the strength of the evidence, safety risk to the community, and previous history of offenses by the defendant.”
“Because this case is pending, in observance of the N.C. State Bar’s Rules of Professional Conduct, we will refrain from further comment,” the D.A.’s office said.
Spokesmen for Cawthorn, who is the youngest member of Congress, did not immediately respond to emails and voicemails requesting comment on the report.
Brad Smith, a criminal defense lawyer in Charlotte who represents people charged with carrying guns at Charlotte Douglas, told CNBC that it is a violation of Charlotte city ordinances to carry a gun at that airport.
Smith also said that although it is not “unheard of” for a person to receive a citation for such an offense, “certainly more often than not they are arrested” at the scene.
“More often than not you’re taken to jail, and booked,” Smith said.
“The DA’s office absolutely prosecutes those cases,” the lawyer said.
In February 2021, Cawthorn had an unloaded Glock 9mm handgun taken away from him by TSA workers at Asheville Regional Airport in North Carolina after it was found in his carry-on bag, according to reports at the time.
Cawthorn’s spokesman said after that incident that the congressman had brought the gun in the bag by mistake.
In March, Cawthorn was charged with driving with a revoked license, news outlets reported. He had faced the same charge in 2017, but that charge was dismissed, according to the Asheville Citizen Times.
At the time he was charged in March, Cawthorn also reportedly faced two citations in North Carolina for speeding: once for driving 89 mph in a 65 mph zone and another for driving 87 mph in a 70 mph zone.

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At least a dozen universities and colleges in the U.S. have reinstated indoor mask mandates this month as Covid cases rise around the country.
The decisions to toughen mask rules come as most of the country eases public health restrictions.
Philadelphia reinstated then scrapped its indoor mask mandate, causing universities in the city to follow suit.

Masked to protect against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), senior Lauren Pyjar takes advantage of the warm sunshine to study outdoors at Georgetown University in Washington, March 9, 2021.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

At least a dozen colleges and universities across the U.S. restored their indoor mask mandates this month after Covid cases rose on their campuses. 
Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University and Georgetown University, among others, announced they will again require face coverings in classrooms or certain indoor spaces. Some schools cited the threat of the more contagious omicron BA.2 subvariant, now the dominant strain of the virus in the U.S.

Their moves come as BA.2 fuels a rise in cases nationwide and a divide on whether to again mandate masks to blunt its spread. Policymakers have considered the politically divisive question of whether to require face coverings just weeks after many cities loosened their public health restrictions, offering Americans a sense of normalcy unseen since the pandemic hit more than two years ago.
“The national debate over mask mandates is certainly reflective of both pandemic fatigue and the deep political divides we have in terms of the public health policy related to Covid,” said Neil Maniar, director of Northeastern University’s Master of Public Health in Urban Health Program. 
“It is impossible to disentangle the political aspect from the public health and science-based realities of how we can respond to this pandemic,” he said.
The shift away from pandemic-era rules — and concerns about whether the moves were premature amid rising cases — continued last week after a U.S. district judge struck down a federal mask mandate for planes and other public transit. The Biden administration appealed the decision last week.
Philadelphia also lifted its indoor mask mandate Friday, just days after becoming the first major U.S. city to reinstate it. Public health officials said the reversal followed a recent decline in Covid cases and hospitalizations in the city. 

The average number of new cases fell to 242 per day as of Thursday, compared with a peak of 377 on April 14. Hospitalizations also fell to 65 on Thursday, down from 82 on April 17, according to a city press release. 
Six schools in Philadelphia responded to the city’s reversal, loosening their tougher mask rules that were reintroduced earlier in the week in line with the mandate. They include Thomas Jefferson, Drexel, Temple, La Salle and St. Joseph’s University. 
The University of Pennsylvania also lifted its mask requirement for indoor public spaces on campus, but still requires masks in classrooms, on campus transit and in health-care settings. 

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Maniar said decisions about masks represent a shift toward more local, individualized decision-making when responding to the pandemic. 
“We’re going from this one-size-fits-all approach to much more localized, much more tailored approaches that really respond to what the what the level of Covid is in a certain community, organization or university,” Maniar said. 
“Depending on what is happening in a certain area, reinstating a mask requirement may or may not be warranted as long as it’s done in a way that is responding to the data that is evident at the local level,” he added.

New York state

Beyond Philadelphia, changes in Covid infections have forced academic institutions to reconsider their mask policies. Three schools in New York state reinstated their indoor mask mandates. 
The University of Rochester announced earlier this month that it would temporarily puts its indoor mask mandate back in place for all of its campuses and properties. The university said it was responding to a spike in Covid cases that is “straining the capacity” of quarantine and isolation spaces on its campuses. 
“The trending high numbers of positive student COVID cases at the University in recent days make it in everyone’s best interest to take the step of re-masking indoors right now,” the university said in a statement. 
In New York City, Columbia University said earlier this month that students would be required to wear noncloth masks in classrooms for the rest of the spring semester. Columbia cited an uptick in NYC case counts and the university’s test positivity rate. 
Barnard College, a women’s school affiliated with Columbia, also reimposed its mask mandate for certain indoor spaces on April 6 due to a spike in cases since it lifted the rule on March 28. 
The decisions come as cases rise in the largest U.S. city. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in NYC was 2,348 on April 18, up from 2,027 a week earlier, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cases in the city have since dropped to a seven-day average of 1,565, the data shows.
In New York state, excluding New York City, the overall the seven-day rolling average was 4,029 on April 24, up from 3,631 on April 18 and 2,899 a week earlier, CDC data said. The state’s seven-day test positivity rate also jumped from 3.65% to 8.97% from April 1 to April 22. 
New York state and NYC have not reinstated indoor mask mandates after they lifted them several weeks ago. But the Metropolitan Transportation Authority still requires masks on subways and buses in NYC, despite the Florida judge’s decision to strike down the federal mask mandate on transportation last week. 
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a Twitter post that the transit mask requirement would remain in place in accordance with guidance from the state health department.

Washington, D.C. 

In Washington, D.C., Howard University is the latest school to reintroduce mask requirements. Students will have to wear face coverings for all indoor settings and outdoor group settings through the end of its spring semester. The university also went a step further than other schools, announcing it would hold certain undergraduate courses online during the last days of classes and conduct final exams virtually. 
George Washington University also announced earlier this month that it would require masks for all campus facilities. The school noted that the mandate would extend through the rest of its spring semester, exam period and commencement. 
American University also reinstated its indoor mask mandate for all campus buildings and Georgetown announced it would require masks indoors on two of its campuses. Both universities said the mandate would not apply to individuals in private offices or personal residences, or to people actively eating or drinking. 
All four universities in D.C. cited high transmission in the region and significant case increases on their campuses, which are partially driven by BA.2. 
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Washington was 119 on April 18, down from 293 a week earlier, according to CDC data. The district’s seven-day test positivity rate, however, rose from 1.8% to 5.44% from April 1 to 17. The percentage of positive cases has since dropped to 3.89% as of April 22. 
Washington ended its indoor mask mandate in late February and has not reinstated it since. D.C.’s Metro made masks optional on its buses, railways and shared-ride transit service after the Florida judge’s ruling. 
The return of mask mandates at universities goes beyond major cities such as New York and Washington. Schools that reintroduced indoor face covering requirements include the University of Connecticut, Bowdoin University, Rice University and Williams College. Johns Hopkins also said on April 6 it would require masks in classrooms, common areas of residence halls and dining facilities, except when actively eating or drinking. 
Maniar said other universities and local jurisdictions could reinstate their mask mandates in the future, adding that they should base their decisions on Covid indicators in their communities. 
“It’s certainly possible to bring back masks where we’re seeing a rise in the number of cases, a corresponding increase in hospitalizations, and a corresponding increase in the percent positivity,” he said. 
Maniar added: “We just want to avoid a situation where we’re overburdening the health-care system in a certain community or area. So if we start to see a rise in those indicators, then I can see that triggering a reinstatement of mask requirements in some settings and certainly in university settings.” 
Correction: The Biden administration appealed the mask mandate decision last week. An earlier version misstated the administration’s action. Washington, D.C.’s seven-day test positivity rate rose from 1.8% to 5.44% from April 1 to 17. An earlier version misstated a percentage.

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Three out of every 5 people in the U.S. now have antibodies from a previous Covid-19 infection, according to a new CDC analysis.
The proportion is even higher among children, demonstrating how widespread the virus was during the winter omicron surge.
CDC officials told reporters on a call Tuesday that the study did not measure whether people with prior infections had high enough antibody levels to protect against reinfection and severe illness.
However, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said health officials believe there is a lot of protection against the virus in communities from vaccination, boosting and infection taken together.

Blood drawn by a registered nurse for an antibody test for the coronavirus, June 16, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Win McNamee | Getty Images

Three out of every 5 people in the U.S. now have antibodies from a previous Covid-19 infection with the proportion even higher among children, demonstrating how widespread the virus was during the winter omicron surge, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The proportion of people with natural Covid antibodies increased substantially from about 34% of the population in December to about 58% in February during the unprecedent wave of infection driven by the highly contagious omicron variant. The CDC’s analysis didn’t factor in people who had antibodies from vaccination.

The CDC published the data in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on Tuesday.
The increase in antibody prevalence was most pronounced among children, indicating a high rate of infection among kids during the winter omicron wave. About 75% of children and teenagers now have antibodies from past Covid infections, up from about 45% in December.
The high rate of infection among children is likely due to lower vaccination rates than adults. Only 28% of children 5- to 11-years-old and 59% of teens 12- to 17-years-old were fully vaccinated as of April. Children under 5-years-old are not yet eligible for vaccination.
About 33% of people ages 65 and older, the group with the highest vaccination rate, had antibodies from infection. Roughly 64% of adults ages 18 to 49 and 50% of people 50 to 64 had the antibodies.
The CDC analyzed about 74,000 blood samples every month from September through January from a national commercial lab network. The sample size decreased to about 46,000 in February. The CDC tested the samples for a specific type of antibody that is produced in response to Covid infection, not from vaccination.

CDC officials told reporters on a call Tuesday that the study did not measure whether people with prior infections had high enough antibody levels to protect against reinfection and severe illness. However, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said health officials believe there is a lot of protection in communities across the country from vaccination, boosting and infection taken together, while cautioning that vaccination is the safest strategy to protect yourself against the virus.
“Those who have detectable antibody from prior infection, we still continue to encourage them to get vaccinated,” Walensky told reporters during the call. “We don’t know when that infection was. We don’t know whether that protection has waned. We don’t know as much about that level of protection than we do about the protection we get from both vaccines and boosters.”
Scientists in Qatar affiliated with Cornell University found that natural infection provides about 73% protection against hospitalization if a person is reinfected with BA.2. However, three doses of Pfizer’s vaccine provided much higher protection against hospitalization at 98%. The study, published in March, has not undergone peer-review.
About 66% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated and 77% have received at least one dose, according to data from the CDC.
Infections and hospitalizations have dropped more than 90% from the peak of the omicron wave in January when infections in the U.S. soared to an average of more than 800,000 a day. New cases are rising again due to the BA.2 subvariant. Another subvariant, BA.2.12.1, is now gaining ground in the U.S., representing about 29% of new infections, according to CDC data. Walensky said the public health agency believes BA.2.12.1 spreads about 25% faster than BA.2. However, she said the CDC does not expect to see more severe disease from BA.2.12.1, though studies are ongoing.
More than 98% of the U.S. population lives in areas where they do not need to wear masks indoors under CDC guidance due to low Covid community levels, which takes into account both infections and hospitalizations. A U.S. district judge last week struck down the CDC’s mask mandate for public transportation, though the Justice Department has filed an appeal. Walensky said the CDC continues to recommend that people wear masks on public transportation.

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Life Changes

As more people head back to the office, they may not be able to rely on their work wardrobe from more than two years ago.
Fashion bloggers share tips on how to prepare for the return to the office without overspending.

Alxeypnferov | Istock | Getty Images

As more people head back to the office, they may not be able to rely anymore on their work wardrobe from more than two years ago.
Their tastes or size may have changed during the pandemic, or their company might have amended expectations around professional attire.

Restocking your closet can add up. Fashion bloggers shared tips on how to prepare for the return to work without overspending.

Size up what you need first

Maria Vizuete, a former stock analyst and the founder of fashion blog MiaMiaMine.com, suggests spending a few days back at your office before you start buying new clothes.
Many companies are revising their dress code expectations, and you may discover that the jeans and sneakers you’ve been living in are now acceptable in the office.
“To see if the shift has occurred at your office, pay attention to how management is dressing, or strike up a conversation with your manager,” Vizuete said.

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If your company has moved to a hybrid work model, in which you’re still permitted to work from home a few days a week, you also won’t need as much office-friendly attire.

“If your time in the office is half of what it was two years ago, you should consider cleansing your professional wardrobe by half, as well,” said Veronica Koosed, owner of PennyPincherFashion.com, another blog.
Don’t be too quick to toss the articles you wore back when pandemics were more the terrain of books and movies than real life, experts said. Some clothes stay relevant.
“Some pieces you may want to hold onto from two years ago are what I refer to as closet staples: your favorite pair of black dress pants, the black dress you frequently wore to the office, a nice blazer and your favorite neutral color shoe,” Koosed said.

Take your time

Don’t feel pressured to replenish your work wardrobe overnight, Vizuete said.
“Start by creating a list of essentials and prioritizing them based on how practical they are,” she said. “Then tackle the list by purchasing a few items each month.”
You may want to set an allowance for yourself. Experts generally recommend that you spend no more than 10% of your take-home pay on clothing.

“I am a huge fan of budgets,” said Dianna Baros, founder of blog TheBudgetBabe.com. “With all the temptations of online shopping, it can be easy to get swept away.”
If you are going to splurge, do it on your wardrobe staples, Vizuete said.
“I’m a big believer that it pays to invest in strong foundational pieces, such as a trench coat, tailored blazer or a structured bag,” she said.
“Once you have a strong collection, you can easily build on them with more affordable, trend-forward pieces.”

Hunt for deals

For high-quality clothing, Vizuete said she stalks sale sites like Gilt, Rue La La and Cettire. When she’s looking for more affordable workwear that’s still stylish, she turns to Express, Mango, Nordstrom and H&M.
For her part, Baros said that following budget-conscious fashion bloggers or influencers is a great way to stay up to date on stylish, affordable clothing.
“They share everything from outfit ideas to sale alerts,” Baros said. “It’s like having a personal shopper, and I think it’s the new way to shop.”

Buying items out-of-season, such as a winter coat in July, is another way to score great prices, experts say.
If you’re still figuring out your post-pandemic fashion identify, a clothing subscription service may be a helpful option.
“Oftentimes, subscription services are more affordable than buying a whole new outfit,” Vizuete said. Some of the popular rental companies include NUULY, Rent the Runway and Nordstrom’s Trunk Club.
Have any friends who won’t be returning to the office at all? If you’re a similar size, offer to help them free up some closet room. More

The Biden administration on Tuesday announced new energy efficiency regulations that will phase out old-fashioned incandescent lightbulbs.
The Energy Department’s rules, which reverse a Trump administration policy, will ban the sale of light bulbs that produce less than 45 lumens per watt and raise energy efficiency standards for various types of general service lamps.
The new standards will save consumers $3 billion each year in utility costs, the department said.

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks about climate change and protecting national forests on Earth Day at Seward Park in Seattle, Washington, April 22, 2022.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

The Biden administration on Tuesday announced new energy efficiency regulations that will phase out old-fashioned incandescent lightbulbs, a move that will drive down electricity use and curb greenhouse gas emissions from the country’s power sector.
The Energy Department’s rules, which reverse a Trump administration policy, will ban the sale of light bulbs that produce less than 45 lumens per watt and raise energy efficiency standards for various types of general service lamps.

The new standards will save consumers $3 billion each year in utility costs, the department said. The rules could also prevent 222 million tons of planet-warming carbon pollution from being emitted over the next 30 years. That’s about as much as 48 million vehicles emit in a year.
Incandescent bulbs, which are the widely recognized glass orbs with glowing wire centers, have been increasingly replaced with more energy-efficient alternatives in recent years. More climate-friendly alternatives include LED bulbs, which look like the traditional pear-shaped incandescent bulbs, but use one-fifth the energy.
The administration’s new rules will eventually phase out most incandescent and halogen bulbs on the market.
“By raising energy efficiency standards for lightbulbs, we’re putting $3 billion back in the pockets of American consumers and substantially reducing domestic carbon emissions,” Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said in a statement.
“The lighting industry is already embracing more energy-efficient products, and this measure will accelerate progress to deliver the best products to American consumers and build a better and brighter future,” Granholm said.

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Former President Donald Trump in 2019 rolled back requirements for more energy-efficient lightbulbs, arguing that the standards were not economically justified. The decision was supported by industry groups who argued that standards requiring consumers to use more efficient options would risk jobs and consumers’ ability to choose.
Joe Vukovich, an energy efficiency advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the announcement of new light bulb efficiency standards is “brilliant news” for consumers and the environment.
“We are long overdue to phase out inefficient old-fashioned light bulbs as this progress was illegally delayed by the Trump administration for more than two years,” Vukovich said in a statement.
The new efficiency standard will become effective 75 days after publication in the Federal Register. However, the Energy Department said it will allow companies to import noncompliant bulbs until January 2023 and allow retailers to continue selling them until July 2023.
“LEDs have become so inexpensive that there’s no good reason for manufacturers to keep selling 19th-century technology that just isn’t very good at turning electrical energy into light,” Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, said in a statement.
“These standards will finally phase out energy-wasting bulbs across the country,” Nadel said.
The Biden administration has committed to achieving a net-zero emissions electricity sector by 2030, and plans to complete 100 energy-efficiency actions this year.

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Life Changes

Your end-of-life experience may be very different depending on where you live, according to a Policygenius report.
The report ranks the best and worst U.S. places to die based on funeral costs and services, green burials, palliative care, Medicare providers, at-home deaths and probate shortcuts.

Your end-of-life experience may be very different depending on where you live, according to a Policygenius report that ranks the country’s best and worst places to die. 
The report gave each state and the District of Columbia a numerical score based on seven factors, including funeral costs and services, green burials, palliative care, Medicare providers, at-home deaths and probate shortcuts.

“I think the big takeaway of this project is to get people thinking about the costs associated with the end of life,” said Logan Sachon, senior managing editor of research at Policygenius. “Because some of them can be mitigated through planning.”

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“If you look at the top 10 and bottom 10, there aren’t any specific things they all have in common,” Sachon said. “They are each kind of unique in their own way.”
Indeed, Vermont, ranked as the No. 1 place to die, was among the most expensive for funeral costs but scored highest for palliative care, which focuses on pain relief, management and emotional support.
Florida, known for its high population of retirees, came in last place, with the fewest Medicare providers per capita, and scored low for at-home deaths and palliative care.
The best places in the U.S. to die

Vermont
Utah
Idaho
Ohio
South Dakota
Maine
Colorado (tie)
Illinois (tie)
New Hampshire
Washington

The worst places in the U.S. to die

Florida
Alaska
Texas
Hawaii
New York
Georgia
New Jersey
North Carolina
South Carolina
Connecticut

It’s never too early for older Americans to prepare for end of life, Sachon said.
While the Covid-19 pandemic has boosted awareness about the need to be proactive, 67% of Americans still don’t have an estate plan, according to senior living referral service Caring.com.  
Experts recommend an advanced directive, also known as a living will, covering your medical care preferences. You’ll also need a health-care proxy or power of attorney, naming someone to make medical decisions on your behalf if needed.

Estate planning

The report also focuses on each state’s probate process, which determines the cost and time it takes to settle your estate.
As of June 2021, only 17 states and the District of Columbia have an estate or inheritance tax, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
With different laws in every state, a local estate planning attorney may share some options to protect your assets and carry out your wishes, depending on where you live.

There’s no federal estate tax on wealth below $12.06 million for individuals in 2022, and with proper planning, married couples can transfer their unused exemption to their surviving spouse, effectively doubling it to $24.12 million. 
However, this reverts to an estimated $6 million exemption in 2026 when provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act sunset. More