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Meals on Wheels: How Trump’s Budget Would Affect Programs on LI

Meals on Wheels, the network of food delivery programs for seniors, has emerged as one of the most talked-about programs that could be affected by President Donald Trump’s proposed budget cuts.

In mid-March White House budget director Mick Mulvaney came under fire after he defended proposed cuts to Meals on Wheels, saying during a news conference the program is ”just not showing any results.”

“Meals on Wheels sounds great,” Mulvaney said, adding that “we’re not going to spend on programs that cannot show that they actually deliver the promises that we’ve made to people.”

Press Secretary Sean Spicer added fuel to the fire when he called the program, of which there are more than 5,000 local branches, “cute.”

The comments angered some, who argued that the program is crucial to keep senior citizens healthy and independent. In the following days politicians from both sides of the aisle spoke out against proposed cuts and online donations flooded the nonprofit Meals on Wheels America, according to program spokeswoman Jenny Bertolette.

Twitter lit up with criticism, too

But the reaction from local organizations is measured

The county agencies that help fund the largest Meals on Wheels programs on Long Island and a handful of smaller community groups say they don’t rely on some of the programs that would be cut under the proposed budget, and they are uncertain how other budget cuts would impact them.

Under Trump’s budget proposal hundreds of millions of dollars would be slashed from the Department of Health and Human Services, which provides some of the funding for Meals on Wheels. The proposal also eliminates a $3 billion community block grant program, which some states and cities use to fund programs including Meals on Wheels.

On Long Island, more than 4,300 seniors use Meals on Wheels programs, officials said. Both Nassau and Suffolk counties receive federal money to disperse to a network of food-delivery groups, which also receive state and county aid. But unlike some Meals on Wheels programs in other parts of the country, none of that money comes from two of the federal block grants which would be eliminated under Trump’s budget proposal. This means programs overseen by the county “would not be zeroed out” but could still see a reduction in funding, said Holly Rhodes-Teague, director of Suffolk County’s Office for the Aging.

Federal funds for both counties come from the Older Americans Act, which falls under the Department of Health and Human Services, according to Greg Olsen, acting director of New York State Office for the Aging. Under the proposed budget, HHS funding would be cut by 16.2 percent, but the details of those cuts haven’t been released and it’s not clear if the Older Americans Act would be affected.

How the money trickles down

Still, “any cut is a concern,” Rhodes-Teague said.

Some programs throughout Long Island receive no government funding and operate on donations, grants and client fees, like Meals on Wheels in Huntington, East Hampton and Three Village (a network that operates in 10 North Shore communities). These programs and others like them would not be directly affected by proposed budget cuts.

Nonetheless, East Hampton Meals on Wheels president, Frank Eipper, said his organization received alarmed calls from seniors in the past weeks worried that meal service could be cut.

He has since had volunteers contact clients to reassure them delivery would continue, Eipper said.

The East Hampton organization delivers meals to between 30 and 60 clients. About 90 percent of their revenue comes from donations, Eipper said.

“Though we wouldn’t be directly affected by this, the concern we would have is that if the federal pot shrinks we’re going to be seeing more competition for donations,” he said. “If other programs ratchet up donation requests because they’re getting less money, it could make it tough for us.”

Marguerite De Bruyne, 89, of Amityville, receives five meals a week through a program run by Catholic Charities – one of the Island’s largest Meals on Wheels providers which relies heavily on federal funding, according to spokesman Umberto Mignardi.

De Bruyne said her eyesight is failing and she has a bad sense of balance. She relies on the service because she can’t afford a home aide.

“Without it I would have to rely on my daughter more and eat an awful lot of leftovers,” De Bruyne said. “I think it’s a great advantage for me.”

Planned cuts to NICE bus service

While lawmakers are working on a budget solution to avoid cuts, NICE Bus plans to eliminate 10 lines and make reductions to service on four others in early April. The map shows all the lines as they exist now, color-coded depending on the plan for each.

NICE bus routes, changing or not

  • Eliminated
  • Service reduced
  • Unchanged

NICE plans to eliminate its Freeport, Hicksville-Wantagh and Rockville Centre community shuttles, introduced last year to restore service in communities that lost routes in a 2016 round of cuts, as well as the N19, which runs between Freeport and Massapequa; the N36 between Lynbrook and Freeport; the N45 between Bellmore and Roosevelt Field; the N47 between Hempstead and Bellmore; the N51 between Roosevelt Field and Merrick; the N57 Great Neck loop; and the N78/79 between Hicksville and Plainview.

NICE would also make major reductions to the newly created Elmont Flexi, which serves Elmont, Valley Stream and Franklin Square; the N27 between Roslyn and Glen Cove; the N70/71/72, between Hempstead and Babylon; and the N80/81 between Hicksville and Massapequa.

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Long Island job levels in February

The private, non-farm sector job count on Long Island rose by 30,600 to 1.3 million in February 2017 compared to a year earlier, according to the state’s Labor Department. Leading the increases were the private educational and health services sector, which rose by 10,300, trade, transportation and utilities, which increased by 8,700 and professional and business services, which went up 7,400. Click on the trend lines below for details on the 10 sectors going back to 1990. The table below gives details for the 2017 and 2016 levels. This database was posted on March 23, 2017.

How Long Island’s 10 sectors have done in February

How the 10 sectors break down year over year


Industry            (job levels in thousands) Feb. 2017 Feb. 2016 % change
TOTAL NONFARM 1,313.5 1,282.9 2.4%
TOTAL PRIVATE 1,114.7 1,087.6 2.5%
Total Goods Producing 141.5 141.4 0.1%
   Construction, Natural Resources, Mining 70.7 70.2 0.7%
         Specialty Trade Contractors 51.1 49.2 3.9%
   Manufacturing 70.8 71.2 -0.6%
      Durable Goods 39.5 40.0 -1.3%
      Non-Durable Goods 31.3 31.2 0.3%
Total Service Providing 1,172.0 1,141.5 2.7%
Total Private Service-Providing 973.2 946.2 2.9%
   Trade, Transportation, and Utilities 276.1 267.4 3.3%
      Wholesale Trade 71.8 69.2 3.8%
         Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods 34.1 34.4 -0.9%
         Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods 26.3 25.9 1.5%
      Retail Trade 161.0 156.6 2.8%
         Building Material and Garden Equipment 11.8 12.1 -2.5%
         Food and Beverage Stores 36.0 35.1 2.6%
            Grocery Stores 29.9 29.6 1.0%
         Health and Personal Care Stores 13.3 12.8 3.9%
         Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores 18.7 18.0 3.9%
         General Merchandise Stores 26.1 26.0 0.4%
            Department Stores 19.9 19.9 0.0%
      Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities 43.3 41.6 4.1%
         Utilities 4.8 4.6 4.3%
         Transportation and Warehousing 38.5 37.0 4.1%
            Couriers and Messengers 5.1 5.3 -3.8%
   Information 19.1 19.3 -1.0%
         Broadcasting (except Internet) 1.1 1.0 10.0%
         Telecommunications 8.5 8.6 -1.2%
   Financial Activities 70.7 71.5 -1.1%
      Finance and Insurance 53.4 54.4 -1.8%
         Credit Intermediation and Related Activities 20.3 20.4 -0.5%
            Depository Credit Intermediation 11.7 11.7 0.0%
         Insurance Carriers and Related Activities 26.8 27.3 -1.8%
      Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 17.3 17.1 1.2%
         Real Estate 13.8 13.7 0.7%
   Professional and Business Services 173.5 166.1 4.5%
      Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services 82.6 80.0 3.3%
            Legal Services 18.6 18.7 -0.5%
            Accounting, Tax Prep., Bookkpng., & Payroll Svcs. 15.1 14.4 4.9%
      Management of Companies and Enterprises 16.5 16.4 0.6%
      Admin. & Supp. and Waste Manage. & Remed. Svcs. 74.4 69.7 6.7%
   Education and Health Services 266.0 255.7 4.0%
      Educational Services 41.6 42.9 -3.0%
      Health Care and Social Assistance 224.4 212.8 5.5%
         Ambulatory Health Care Services 88.0 84.8 3.8%
         Hospitals 64.6 60.2 7.3%
         Nursing and Residential Care Facilities 34.1 32.9 3.6%
         Social Assistance 37.7 34.9 8.0%
   Leisure and Hospitality 110.5 108.7 1.7%
      Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation 15.2 16.9 -10.1%
         Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries 11.4 12.2 -6.6%
      Accommodation and Food Services 95.3 91.8 3.8%
         Food Services and Drinking Places 90.8 87.1 4.2%
   Other Services 57.3 57.5 -0.3%
         Personal and Laundry Services 22.5 22.3 0.9%
Government 198.8 195.3 1.8%
   Federal Government 16.7 16.5 1.2%
   State Government 25.1 24.7 1.6%
      State Government Education 13.6 13.0 4.6%
      State Government Hospitals 1.4 1.5 -6.7%
   Local Government 157.0 154.1 1.9%
      Local Government Education 105.8 103.3 2.4%
      Local Government Hospitals 2.9 2.8 3.6%

Long Island’s infamous garbage barge of 1987 still influences laws

The infamous garbage barge set out to sea 30 years ago this week, carrying more than 3,100 tons of Islip Town and New York City trash on a voyage that would change how Long Island collects and disposes of its solid refuse.

Officials, seeing landfill space running out on Long Island, decided to try something new: pay a private carting consortium to ship the trash to a North Carolina dump for a fraction of what it would cost to dispose of it in the Northeast.

But it backfired.

North Carolina officials, fielding complaints from residents who saw the barge trying to dock, wanted nothing to do with the fetid haul. After being turned away, the Mobro 4000 meandered from place to place for two months, desperately looking for a dump site. It would be turned away by Louisiana, Texas, Florida and Belize. Authorities in Mexico and Cuba threatened to fire artillery at the barge if it tried to dock.

Officials from Islip and New York State eventually negotiated a deal to have the garbage burned in Brooklyn with its ash buried in an Islip Town landfill.

The saga attracted national headlines — and late-night barbs from “Tonight” show host Johnny Carson. Long Island’s efforts to dispose of or recycle its trash have improved by many measurements, officials and industry experts say. But it may not be enough, they caution.

“I think the garbage barge is an excellent reminder of what can happen when we put the environment sort of off to the side and say, ‘We don’t have to worry about it,’” said R. Lawrence Swanson, director of the Waste Reduction and Management Institute at Stony Brook University.

In 1987, the year the barge logged about 6,000 miles at sea, 80 percent of Long Island’s refuse ended up in landfills; 13 percent was trucked to dumps off the Island, 6 percent was incinerated, and only 1 percent was recycled, according to Swanson. Since about 2010, roughly half of Long Island trash is incinerated, 30 to 35 percent is recycled, and 15 to 20 percent is transported off the Island.

Garbage disposal continues to vex local officials. Critics say Long Island’s recycling efforts — a key factor in reducing the amount of trash to be incinerated and landfilled — lag other regions’.

The Brookhaven Town landfill — the largest and one of the last primary municipal landfills on Long Island — is set to close in about eight years, potentially increasing the reliance on shipping waste away.

“This crisis is going to grow,” said Brookhaven Town Supervisor Edward P. Romaine, who was a Suffolk County legislator when the Mobro 4000 first left port. “It’s going to make the garbage barge pale by comparison.”

Waste disposal experts and local officials said that there are no easy solutions to Long Island’s trash problem, and that recycling by itself is not a cure. And some warn that complacency about trash disposal could lead back to conditions that helped create the garbage barge debacle.

“I am well aware that we are approaching a crisis in waste in Long Island,” Basil Seggos, New York Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner said at a Long Island Association meeting this month. “We’ve got a great investment in recycling, but at some point, we’re going to need to make tough decisions.”

In 2014, East Hampton, Southampton and Southold were in crisis as a shortage of long-haul flatbed trucks coming to Long Island caused at least 4,000 tons of garbage to pile up. The trash eventually was trucked to Brentwood, where it was loaded on railcars and taken to Kentucky for disposal.

Long Islanders generate an estimated 7 pounds of solid waste per person per day. The national average is 4.5 pounds, said Swanson, an associate dean at Stony Brook’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.

Tons of recycled and unrecycled waste

Tons of recycled and unrecycled waste in the big towns

And tons of recycled and unrecycled waste in the smaller towns

Because they have smaller populations they produce less waste overall. (Note the different scale from the chart above.)

How much recycling per person

Another way to gauge recycling is to look at the number of pounds of solid waste that are recycled daily per residents. Here are the figures for Long Island towns (Fishers Island reports separately from Southold Town).

Click here to see annual reports for LI towns and cities. Source: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Dependent on incinerators

Long Island trash disposal is heavily dependent on incinerators, and the landfills that store the ash created by those facilities.

The four Covanta Energy Corp. plants in Hempstead, Huntington, Babylon and Ronkonkoma process 1.8 million tons of waste each year and recycle about 50,000 tons of metal annually. In Hempstead, the heat generated from incineration turns water into steam to power a turbine that produces electricity. That ash is sent to the Brookhaven landfill.

Recycling programs on Long Island vary as towns, cities and villages use a hodgepodge of methods for solid waste collection. Most contract with carting companies for curbside waste and recycling pickup, but in some smaller towns, such as Southold, residents take their trash to a town dump site.

Many public officials, waste industry leaders and environmentalists say Long Island is far behind other areas of the country in terms of recycling. But there is no universally accepted method for calculating how much material is recycled, making region-to-region and even town-to-town comparisons difficult. Yard waste and manure — which can be composted or used as fertilizer — are counted in some areas, while old vehicles that are sold or donated are counted as recycling in others.

In its 2010 “Beyond Waste” report, the state focused on solid waste generated per person per day as a way to measure the effectiveness of waste-reduction efforts. At that time, the average per-person amount of waste each day in New York State was 4.1 pounds, with reduction goals set at 1.7 pounds by 2020 and 0.6 pounds by 2030.

Solid-waste reduction requires a range of programs, from managing electronic waste and household hazardous waste to repurposing items, Seggos said. The state is also focusing on revising regulations governing composting, as well as the disposal of mulch, and construction and demolition debris, he said.

Recycling strategies

The state does not set regulations about what materials should be recycled and instead leaves it to municipal planners to decide what is best for their community, DEC officials said.

Several towns have moved to “single-stream recycling” in which all recyclable materials — paper, glass, cardboard, plastic, metals — are collected together. Putting all items in one container for pickup makes it easier for residents and has led to double-digit increases in the amount of material recycled, officials say.

Video: Inside peek into LI’s recycling efforts

Other town officials cite potential contamination — such as paper shredded by broken glass or soiled by soup and soft drinks — in single-stream collection and continue to require residents to separate their recyclable items. National studies show as much as a third of contaminated recyclables still end up in dumps.

In most of New York State, counties report solid waste plans to the DEC that detail efforts to reduce waste, reuse items and recycle. On Long Island, individual towns and cities, not Nassau or Suffolk counties, manage the programs and reports without regional oversight. Seggos said a more unified approach was worth evaluating.

“You have a regional problem that demands regional action,” he said. Barges are unlikely to be part of the solution when the Brookhaven landfill’s useful life ends, said Holbrook attorney Michael Cahill, a counsel to Islip Town during the Mobro 4000 saga and today. No port on Long Island is large enough to handle that kind of barge, he said.

Instead, Long Island will need to consider rail and truck transport of its trash, he said.

“You can see these crossroads approaching and we’ve got to figure out what to do,” Cahill said.

The next waste issue? Food, state says

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s proposed 2018 budget has a provision requiring food waste be diverted from landfills by composting, donating edible items, converting it into fuel and incorporating other measures.

The provision, if approved, would take effect in 2021.

The regulation would apply to large institutions such as hotels, nursing homes, “big box” stores, supermarkets and jails that produce at least two tons of food waste per week.

A report prepared this month for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority estimated that hospitals, colleges, nursing homes, supermarkets, motels and restaurants produce more than 416,000 tons of food waste annually. Diverting that waste from landfills by 2021 could save $22 million each year, the report said.

Additionally, removing food from the waste stream would reduce the amount of methane gas produced by decomposition, removing a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere and has been linked to climate change.

“This is obviously a waste issue,” New York Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos said. “We throw so much food away. We have so many people that are hungry in New York, nationally.”

Additionally, Seggos said, the state is focused on revising regulations governing the disposal of mulch, and construction and demolition debris, as well as composting. He called that concern long-term, not imminent.

“It is something, in my mind, we have enough time to plan for,” Seggos said.

A brief history: The garbage barge’s journey

March 22, 1987: Mobro 4000, pulled by the tugboat Break of Dawn, leaves Long Island City with 3,186 tons of trash. Over the next two months: Rejected by North Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, Florida, Belize, Cuba and Mexico.

May 16, 1987: Sails into New York Harbor, anchors off Gravesend Bay.

August 1987: Trash burned in Brooklyn incinerator.

Sept. 1, 1987: First truckload of ash from that waste deposited in Islip Town landfill.

Gorsuch Confirmation Hearings: How We Got to the Nuclear Option

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats blocked Donald Trump’s Supreme Court appointee Neil Gorsuch Thursday, setting up a showdown with Republicans so intent on confirming him that they have threatened to change Senate rules in what’s called the “nuclear option.”

After that vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday triggered the “nuclear option” to change long-standing rules to confirm Donald Trump’s Supreme Court appointee Neil Gorsuch after Democrats successfully filibustered his nomination.

The Senate’s decision to effectively end its members’ ability to block a high court nomination with a filibuster will have long-term impact by heightening partisanship and politicization of both the Senate and the Supreme Court, lawmakers and experts said.

Keep scrolling for a guide to the steps they are taking, and what is at stake; or click here for today’s full story.

Credit: AP

What you need to know about the filibuster

What is a filibuster?

Named after the Dutch word meaning “pirate,” the term describes how senators can hold the floor for unlimited debate to block legislation or, in this case, a Supreme Court nomination. It is not in the Constitution, but in Senate rules. The minority party uses it to block or shape the majority’s legislative agenda.

Why does the Senate allow filibusters?

It is a distinctive feature of the Senate, allowing its members the right to take to the floor and speak as long as he or she wishes — as dramatized by actor Jimmy Stewart in the 1939 film “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” In contrast, the House is run by majority rule, and the leaders of the majority control what happens on the floor.

Why are Democrats threatening a filibuster of Gorsuch?

Schumer said Gorsuch is too conservative and out of the mainstream. Democrats also remain angry that McConnell ignored President Barack Obama’s nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, to hold open the vacancy left by Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February 2016.

Why are Republicans digging in to confirm Gorsuch?

McConnell said Gorsuch is highly qualified and deserves to be confirmed. McConnell also said the vacancy occurred during a presidential election and voters chose Trump as president, so he gets to pick Scalia’s replacement.

How can a filibuster be stopped?

The majority presents a motion under the cloture rule that allows 30 hours of debate before a vote to end the filibuster. It takes three fifths of the Senate, or 60 votes, to end a filibuster. McConnell made a motion to end the Gorsuch filibuster Tuesday evening, setting the stage for a vote Thursday. Republicans have 52 votes, Democrats 48.

Has a Supreme Court nominee been filibustered before?

In 1968, a bipartisan group threatened a filibuster when President Lyndon Johnson named Abe Fortas as chief justice. A cloture vote failed and Johnson withdrew the nomination. In 2006, some Senate Democrats tried to filibuster the nominee Samuel Alito, but the Senate defeated it in a bipartisan 72-25 vote.

What you need to know about the nuclear option

What is the nuclear option?

It is a change in the Senate rules to lower the threshold of votes needed to end filibusters of Supreme Court nominees from its current 60 to a simple majority of 51. This is done through a series of motions, points of order and votes over the objection of the minority party.

Why is it called a nuclear option?

It is explosive act in what is supposed to be a calm, deliberative body. Many senators say this tactic will create fallout that will stoke acrimony, erode the long-standing senatorial privilege of debate and make the upper chamber increasingly like the majority-rule House. It also means that presidents won’t need a bipartisan majority to approve their Supreme Court nominees, tempting them to select justices even more aligned with their ideology or politics.

Why does McConnell think the nuclear option is needed?

McConnell said he doesn’t seem to have the 60 votes needed to end the filibuster.

Gorsuch met with Sen. Chuck Schumer on Feb. 7, 2017. Getty Images photo.

Has the nuclear option been used before?

In 2013, the Democratic majority acted after the Republican minority filibustered many of Obama’s nominees — changing Senate rules to cut off debate with 51 votes for presidential appointments with one exception: the lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court.

Are Schumer and McConnell seeking a compromise to avoid the nuclear option?

Schumer proposed Wednesday that Trump consult with members of both parties and try to come up with a consensus nominee who could meet the 60-vote threshold. But neither McConnell nor the White House took him up on the offer. McConnell said, “I hope Democrats reevaluate their position before the important vote we’ll take tomorrow.”

Where does the vote now stand?

Schumer said he has 41 Democratic votes, enough to filibuster Gorsuch, though three Democrats said they will vote for him. McConnell said he has the 51 votes necessary to trigger the nuclear option.

Get the latest on the confirmation hearings here.

Bumpy Ride: Rising Fares on the LIRR

It’s costing riders more to ride a Long Island Rail Road train.

Fares went up beginning March 19, although monthly pass holders won’t see the increase until they buy their April ticket.

On average, most riders will pay about 4 percent more, but some tickets will go up by as much as 6 percent.

Zone Monthly fare pre-hike New fare Percent increase One-way peak pre-hike New fare Percent increase
1 $184 $190 3.26% $8.25 $8.75 6.06%
3 $218 $226 3.67% $10.00 $10.25 2.50%
4 $252 $261 3.57% $11.50 $12.00 4.35%
7 $287 $297 3.48% $13.00 $13.50 3.85%
9 $338 $350 3.55% $15.25 $16.00 4.92%
10 $377 $391 3.71% $18.25 $19.00 4.11%
12 $446 $461 3.36% $21.75 $22.50 3.45%
14 $485 $500 3.09% $28.25 $29.25 3.54%

LIRR fares are based on geographical zones; the higher the zone number, the higher the fare is and the farther the distance from Penn Station.

MetroCards and MTA bridge and tunnel tolls will be going up too.

The cost of a monthly MetroCard increases by $4.50 to $121

Tolls on most major bridges increase by 50 cents or less

Tolls on most major tunnels increase by 50 cents or less

One piece of the puzzle

A monthly ticket between Mineola and Penn Station used to cost $178 in 2007. It will cost $261 beginning in April. For Ronkonkoma commuters, a monthly pass cost $267 ten years ago. It’s going up to $391. And, as expensive as fares are, MTA officials say they pale in comparison to the cost of operating the largest public transportation system in the United States. Fares account for about 40 percent of the MTA’s total revenue. Most of the rest comes from dedicated taxes and bridge and tunnel fares—meaning drivers are covering part of LIRR riders’ trips.

But LIRR riders still aren’t happy about the latest fare hike

It’s the sixth in the last ten years. In that time, LIRR fares have gone up by about 38 percent.

But the MTA says the upcoming fare hike just keeps up with inflation—averaging about 2 percent a year. And they also point out that the increase is the lowest since the MTA adopted a schedule of raising fares every other year back in 2009.

But how do ticket prices compare with other costs over the last decade, on average?

38%

Some of the steepest hikes have been from Mineola to Penn Station: $178 to $261, and from Ronkonkoma to Penn: $267 to $391.

3.3%

A gallon of unleaded gasoline has gone from $2.27 to $2.35

7.8%

A gallon of milk has gone from about $3.07 to $3.32

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Improvements on the way

Still, MTA officials say customers are getting more for their fare dollar than ever before. The railroad says it’s working hard to modernize and expand the 183-year-old railroad, including through big-ticket infrastructure projects. You just won’t see the full impact of these projects for a few years.

East Side Access
$10.2B

Double Track project
$387.2M

Expansion, including 3rd track
$2B

Positive train control crash technology
$968M

Penn Station renovation
$1.68B

Phase 1 of Jamaica upgrade
$442M

In the meantime, the MTA has made some improvements over the years, including adding trains on some lines, the recent roll out of e-tickets and station renovations. And the agency has said it will consider new ideas, like discounts for trips made within Long Island and within New York City, when making further changes to fares in the future.

It won’t take all that long. Another fare hike is scheduled for 2019.

Read the latest LIRR news

How the GOP health-care bill could affect you

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump and Republicans who control Congress are advancing a sweeping health-care bill that would make some significant changes to “Obamacare” but not completely repeal the current national health care law. In fact, the GOP proposal would keep some significant elements of Obamacare.

Many specifics are not yet known but here is a look at some of the changes and how they might impact people in different age groups, based on examples offered by the Kaiser Foundation and the Congressional Budget Office.

Use the arrows to the right of each section to navigate through this project.

at ANY agethe bill's main points

Mandate vs. choice

  

The mandate that every individual get health insurance or pay a penalty to offset health-care costs would be eliminated. Also, large employers would no longer have to cover workers or face a penalty if they don’t.

Philosophically, this is the crucial hinge for many Republicans: switching from mandates to choices.

“It comes down to whether you want government playing a predominant role in determining what (health care coverage) should be offered in or whether you think (insurers) should be allowed to offer plans” that fit the market, said Rep. John Faso (R-Kinderhook), the lone New York Republican on the House Budget Committee. “The ACA represents a centralized approach. The Republican approach lets the market work and lets individuals decide what to buy.”

Tax credits:

The Republican plan would replace Obamacare tax credits with a different kind of tax credit. In short, Obamacare provided tax credits based on incomes and costs of policies; the GOP would base it on age. Further, the GOP would cap the maximum credit at $4,000 for people 60 years old or greater; under Obamacare, the credits could be $10,000 or more.

Enrollment and premiums:

The Congressional Budget Office projected that health-care premiums would spike 20 percent for those buying in the individual market during the first 10 years, but decline by 10 percent overall in a decade. But again, individual circumstances can vary widely.

Medicaid:

 

The GOP plan would keep federal funding of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion through 2020, but halt it after that. The expansion had allowed people who earned just enough money to be excluded from Medicaid to join it. That will end. People in this income category will be among those most affected, in the future, by the proposed changes.

Popular elements of Obamacare:

 

The GOP would keep some key parts of the ACA that are popular: Insurers wouldn’t be able to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions; children would be able to stay on their parents’ policies until age 26; insurers can’t cap annual or lifetime medical expenses.

Women’s health issues:

The GOP would freeze Planned Parenthood funding for one year. The organization gets nearly half its funding from the federal government, according to Associated Press, and the aid doesn’t pay for abortions but rather other services such as birth control and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases.

Further, the GOP plan prohibits the use of tax credits to purchase any health plan that covers abortions.

Mental health, substance abuse:

For the 31 states that expanded Medicaid under Obamacare (including New York), the GOP plan would eliminate (in 2020) the requirement that Medicaid cover mental-health and substance-abuse treatment. That doesn’t mean states won’t continue to cover those services, but they will be among the mix of coverage choices.

Some Democrats and some health-policy groups view this as a “major retreat” from substance-abuse treatment.

In your 20son family insurance

You’ll be able to stay on your parent’s policy until age 26. The GOP would keep this popular provision of the ACA.

Also read the section for ANY age to learn more about possible changes in coverage.

In your 20son employer insurance

If you get health insurance through your job, the GOP plan would not have a huge effect on you, said Bill Hammond, a health-care policy analyst at the Empire Center.

The overwhelming majority of companies provide health insurance because it is part of the traditional package to attract employees or “because they think it’s the right thing to do,” Hammond said. The removal of the penalties likely won’t spur companies to suddenly drop coverage.

That said, companies could alter what their policies cover based on how the market shakes out. The Congressional Budget Office projected that up to 7 million fewer people would be covered through work-offered insurance by 2026 because companies no longer face a penalty. Republicans called that estimate overstated.

Also read the section for ANY age to learn more about possible changes in coverage.

In your 20sbuying insurance

 

Like the ACA, the Republican plan primarily affects those who must buy insurance on their own — especially young adults and senior citizens. And the impact depends on a person’s circumstances.

If you are a Long Islander who is 27 (no longer covered by your parent’s policies) and you are earning less than $50,000, you’d fare better under Obamacare. If you were earning more than that (up to $75,000), you’d fare better under the GOP plan.

But it’s not just tax credits that would change, it’s likely premiums would too. Younger individuals likely would see lower insurance premiums. That’s because the GOP plan, according to supporters, recognizes that young people have fewer health costs and should pay less.

Also read the section for ANY age to learn more about possible changes in coverage.

Between 27 and 59on employer insurance

If you get health insurance through your job, the GOP plan would not have a huge effect on you, said Bill Hammond, a health-care policy analyst at the Empire Center.

The overwhelming majority of companies provide health insurance because it is part of the traditional package to attract employees or “because they think it’s the right thing to do,” Hammond said. The removal of the penalties likely won’t spur companies to suddenly drop coverage.

That said, companies could alter what their policies cover based on how the market shakes out. The Congressional Budget Office projected that up to 7 million fewer people would be covered through work-offered insurance by 2026 because companies no longer face a penalty. Republicans called that estimate overstated.

Also read the section for ANY age to learn more about possible changes in coverage.

Between 27 and 59buying insurance

Like the ACA, the Republican plan primarily affects those who must buy insurance on their own – especially young adults and senior citizens. And the impact depends on a person’s circumstances.

If you are a 40-year-old Long Islander and your income is $30,000, you’d be eligible for $3,000 in tax credits under the GOP plan and $3,930 under Obamacare, according to Kaiser. That same person earning $75,000 in income would fare better under the GOP plan because his income level is too high to get any tax credits under Obamacare. (If that person earns $100,000 or more, he/she could get just $500 in tax credits in the GOP plan.)

But it’s not just tax credits that would change, it’s likely premiums would too. The CBO projected that premiums for a 40-year-old are likely to decrease.

Those who currently earn too much to qualify for Medicaid or Obamacare subsidies likely would fare better under the GOP plan. For example, a 40-year-old who earns $68,200 annually would pay $6,500 in premiums under Obamacare but $2,400 under the GOP plan.

Also see changes for ANY age to read more about changes that could affect your coverage.

60 and olderon employer insurance

If you get health insurance through your job, the GOP plan would not have a huge effect on you, said Bill Hammond, a health-care policy analyst at the Empire Center.

The overwhelming majority of companies provide health insurance because it is part of the traditional package to attract employees or “because they think it’s the right thing to do,” Hammond said. The removal of the penalties likely won’t spur companies to suddenly drop coverage.

That said, companies could alter what their policies cover based on how the market shakes out. The Congressional Budget Office projected that up to 7 million fewer people would be covered through work-offered insurance by 2026 because companies no longer face a penalty. Republicans called that estimate overstated.

Also read the section for ANY age to learn more about possible changes in coverage.

60 and olderbuying insurance

If you a Long Islander 60 or older and your income is $30,000, it’s essentially a wash: you’d be eligible for $4,000 in tax credits under the GOP plan and $3,930 under Obamacare, according to Kaiser. That same person earning $75,000 in income would fare better under the GOP plan because his income level is too high to get any tax credits under Obamacare. (If that person earns $100,000 or more, he/she could get just $1,500 in tax credits in the GOP plan.)

But it’s not just tax credits that would change, it’s likely premiums would too. Persons 60 or older who are buying on the individual market likely would see premiums rise. Under Obamacare, insurers could charge older adults up to 3 times as high as young adults. The GOP would change that ratio to 5-to-1.

For example, the CBO said that a 64-year-old with a $26,500 income would pay $1,700 in premiums in 2026 under Obamacare – but a whopping $14,600 under the GOP bill.

Non-individualchanges for employers, insurers

 Most of them would go away. The GOP would eliminate the mandate penalty, fees on insurers and prescription drug manufacturers, taxes on the sales of certain medical devices, a surcharge on investment incomes and the 10 percent tax on indoor tanning services.

But, importantly, the GOP would keep the so-called Cadillac tax. Scheduled to begin in 2020, this Obamacare provision would impose an excise tax (paid by insurers and employers, not individuals) on health plans that cost more than $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families. The GOP would delay the phase-in by five years.

Supporters say the tax is a governor on health-care spending. Some Republicans, though, want to kill all the taxes imposed by Obamacare.

“My view is this: After spending seven years talking about the harm being caused by these taxes, it’s difficult to switch gears now and decide that they’re fine so long as they’re being used to pay for our healthcare bill,” Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) told The Hill.