Category / Economics

by Hoosier Econ

Did Indiana Just Become a Medical Tourism Destination?

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On March 24th, Governor Mike Pence signed into law the ‘Right To Try’ Legislation. Here is snapshot of what the law entails from WFYI:

    Terminally ill patients in Indiana can now use experimental drugs that have not received final FDA approval. Gov. Mike Pence signed so called “Right to Try” legislation into law Tuesday.

    The “Right to Try” law allows terminally ill patients to use medications that have gone through the first of the FDA’s three-step approval process.

HotAir.com picked up on the story and threw out some concerns of the FDA possibly stepping in and complicating the legislation:

    Indiana’s legislature and Governor Mike Pence have tried to bridge the gap by passing a “Right to Try” law that allows patients to make the choice on experimental medication, and which protects manufacturers from liability if the results go poorly. The question raises ethical questions about where the line between mercy and human experimentation may be crossed, but CBS’ Chicago affiliate raises the question about whether this crosses a bureaucratic line with the FDA first.

I am strongly in favor of this legislation and hope Indiana tells the FDA to back off. If I’m terminally ill I should be able to have the decision in choosing treatment that is experimental. I support the legislation shielding drug companies from liability as well. In the field of medicine this can be beneficial in helping drug developers in researching the drugs to better the product down the road if it doesn’t workout in testing on people.

Lets hope this is the step in the right direction of medicine opening up to more freedom for patients and those who want to help them.

by Hoosier Econ

Is Marc Benioff Breaking the Law With His Indiana Ban?

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SalesForce.com CEO Marc Benioff announced Thursday he is reducing the companies investment in Indiana due to Governor Mike Pence signing RFRA legislation.

There is nothing illegal with a CEO of a company being politically or socially active in government current events. The problem lies within the fact his company is a publicly traded investment. This means its listed on the stock exchange for all to buy. When you are a publicly traded company you must follow rules set forth by the Securities Exchange Commission when making big investment moves so stockholders can see. I will list a few but compliance can be found at Investor.gov:

    Current Reports on Form 8-K. Companies file this report with the SEC to announce major events that shareholders should know about, including bankruptcy proceedings, a change in corporate leadership (such as a new director or high-level officer), and preliminary earnings announcements.

And here is another rule for the company to follow moving any major investment out of Indiana that could affect shareholders investments. Shareholders would possibly need to vote on the matter:

    Proxy Statements. Shareholder voting constitutes one of the key rights of shareholders. They may elect members of the board of directors, cast non-binding votes on executive compensation, approve or reject proposed mergers and acquisitions, or vote on other important topics. Proxy statements describe the matters to be voted upon and often disclose information on the company’s executive compensation policies and practices.

To be clear, Marc Benioff is not claiming to be shutting down any operations at this time. A move like that would MOST DEFITINETLY have to be filed and voted on by shareholders. From my a**hole business experience I think he is bluffing and within months will be fully operational in sending people to Indiana for business. I’m positive his lawyers got a hold of him and made him carefully word his statement after the first one posted above. If he does start moving assets out like employees or selling off property without notification, then he will be in violation.

I will be following Investor.gov to monitor his threats.

by Hoosier Econ

Medical Bills Pile Up on GoFundMe

Lately on social media I’ve seen a plethora of people touting “GoFundMe” accounts to raise money for one specific area, medical issues. I decided to look up numbers to see how often it’s used by people for this issue and the numbers are staggering:

According to data from GoFundMe, in 2011 there were about 8,000 campaigns on the site, generating a total of about $1.6 million dollars in donations. Compare that to 2014, where there were about 600,000 campaigns and close to $150 million dollars donated.

Credit WHOtv.com for the data.

by Hoosier Econ

Inflation Alert: Beef Prices Hit Record High

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Via CNSNEWS.COM –

The average price of a pound of ground beef climbed to another record high in February, hitting $4.238 per pound, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

In August 2014, the average price for a pound of all types of ground beef topped $4 for the first time, hitting $4.013, according to the BLS.

In September, the average price jumped to $4.096 per pound; in October, the average price climbed to $4.154 per pound; and in November, the average price climbed to $4.201 per pound.

In December, the price declined slightly to $4.156 per pound. In January 2015, ground beef hit $4.235 per pound and in February 2015, according to the latest data from the BLS, the price of ground beef hit the highest level ever recorded of $4.238.

A year ago, in February 2014, the average price for a pound of ground beef was $3.555 per pound. Since then, the average price has increased 19.2 percent in one year.

Five years ago, in February 2010, the average price of a pound of ground beef was $2.277, according to the BLS. The price has since climbed by $1.961 per pound, or an increase of 86.1 percent.

Read the rest here.

by Hoosier Econ

Report: Shortage of 90,000 Physicians by 2025

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In a report prepared for the Association of American Medical Colleges a grim outlook was given concerning physician supply in the United States. Here is what was found:

    Demand for physicians continues to grow faster than supply, leading to a projected shortfall of
    between 46,100 and 90,400 physicians by 2025

The report can be read here. Much of the shortage will be from stronger demand of people getting on Obamacare.

by Hoosier Econ

USDA: 97% of Farms Owned by Families

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USDA came out with some new numbers on who owns farms in America:

About 2.1 million farms in the U.S., 97 percent are what the report calls “family farms,”according to the the USDA’s 2012 Census of Agriculture Farm Typology.

Other key facts included in the report stated that 88 percent of those 2.1 million farms are classified as “small family farms” — operations with a gross cash farm income (GCFI) of less than $350,000 per year. Those small family farms contribute nearly 60 percent of all direct sales of product from farms to consumers.

H/T Indiana Economic Digest

by Hoosier Econ

Percent of Illegal Immigrants Who Skip Deportation Hearings

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The federal government said the number of undocumented immigrants failing to appear at deportation hearings is on the rise.

According to the Executive Office of Immigration Review, the number of people who did not show after being released on bond or on their own recognizance grew by 153 percent in the last four years.

Immigration judges ordered deportations for those no-shows. About 30 to 40 percent of undocumented immigrants failed to appear at their hearings last year.

The statistics also show that judges grant asylum less than 50-percent of the time while immigrants from Central American countries get asylum an average of 2-percent of the time.

H/T KRGV.com

by Hoosier Econ

Top 2014 Restaurant Franchise Sales Statistics

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New sales stats have been released for the top 50 franchise restaurants of 2014. Good numbers to look at if you are thinking about investing in one. I’m only posting the top 25, so visit StatisticBrain.com for the rest of the list. (Statistics are total sales / average store sales)

McDonald’s $35,600,000,000 / $2,600,000
Subway $12,100,000,000 / $481,000
Starbucks $10,600,000,000 / $1,223,000
Wendy’s $8,600,000,000 / $1,483,800
Burger King $8,587,000,000 / $1,195,000
Taco Bell $7,478,000,000 / $1,363,000
Dunkin’ Donuts $6,264,200,000 / $857,400
Pizza Hut $5,666,000,000 / $883,000
Chick-Fil-A $4,621,100,000 / $3,157,900
KFC $4,459,000,000 / $957,000
Panera Bread $3,861,000,000 / $2,427,200
Sonic Drive-In $3,790,700,000 / $1,074,000
Domino’s Pizza $3,500,000,000 / $710,200
Jack in the Box $3,084,900,000 / $1,379,000
Arby’s $2,992,000,000 / $993,200
Chipotle Mexican Grill $2,731,200,000 / $2,113,000
Papa John’s $2,402,400,000 / $829,000
Dairy Queen $2,300,000,000 / $545,000
Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen $2,253,000,000 / $1,242,000
Hardee’s $1,900,000,000 / $1,145,000
Panda Express $1,797,400,000 / $1,237,000
Little Caesars $1,684,000,000 / $465,000
Whataburger $1,476,800,000 / $1,996,000
Carl’s Jr. $1,400,000,000 / $1,470,000
Jimmy John’s $1,262,800,000 / $878,800

by Hoosier Econ

Ten Most Dangerous Jobs for Men

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by Hoosier Econ

Medicaid Will Eat Up State Budgets in Near Future

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Obamacare for all intensive purposes is a gateway to universal healthcare via medicaid. When the ACA passed in 2010 it set up a medicaid program where the feds matched dollar for dollar states medicaid expansion. Here is a detailed explanation from the Chicago Tribune of an example in Illinois where estimated costs have ballooned from $500 Million to $2 Billion:

    Starting in 2017, Illinois and other states that also expanded their programs are required to start paying a small portion of the bill, rising to no more than 10 percent of the total tab. State health officials estimated in 2012 that Illinois’ portion of the expansion would cost $573 million from 2017 through 2020.

    Original projections anticipated that 199,000 residents would sign up in 2014, potentially rising to no more than 342,000. State officials estimated a monthly, per person cost of $454, and revised that number upward to $882 in the document sent to in June to federal officials.

    But through December, 540,877 joined Medicaid’s ranks. State officials said thousands more likely signed up through January.

Nationally, medicaid has exploded via Obamacare (9.7 million new enrollees) which means long term federal costs for ALL taxpayers.