Tag / Just Facts Daily

by Hoosier Econ

Hybrid Car Owners Breaking Up With Mother Earth

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Hybrid car owners are not feeling the love of the environment anymore and showing it with their purchasing power. I remember the hysteria a decade ago if you didn’t buy a hybrid then you didn’t love Mother Earth. JustFactsDaily.com had this question up on their website for viewers to answer:

    Thus far in 2015, what portion of the people who traded in a hybrid or electric car purchased another such car?

Once you answered, they provided documentation to research done by Edmunds.com:

    Car buyers are trading in hybrid and electric cars for SUVs at a higher rate than ever before, according to a new analysis from car-buying platform Edmunds.com.

    According to Edmunds.com, about 22 percent of people who have traded in their hybrids and EVs in 2015 bought a new SUV. The number represents a sharp increase from 18.8 percent last year, and it is nearly double the rate of 11.9 percent just three years ago. Overall, only 45 percent of this year’s hybrid and EV trade-ins have gone toward the purchase of another alternative fuel vehicle, down from just over 60 percent in 2012. Never before have loyalty rates for alt-fuel vehicles fallen below 50 percent.

Edmunds also provides analysis of how long it takes financially to justify paying the price of hybrid vehicles with gas price savings:

    To underscore the point, Edmunds calculates that at the peak average national gas price of $4.67/gallon in October 2012, it would take five years to break even on the $3,770 price difference between a Toyota Camry LE Hybrid ($28,230) and a Toyota Camry LE ($24,460). At today’s national average gas price of $2.27/gallon, it would take twice as much time (10.5 years) to close the same gap.
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by Hoosier Econ

How Much Do Consumers Pay to Healthcare Providers?

Just Facts Daily posed a question to readers regarding healthcare payments. Here is the question and answer:

What portion of all healthcare spending in the U.S. is directly paid by consumers to healthcare providers (i.e., not indirectly paid through middlemen like insurance companies or governments)?

Less than 25%

In 2009, consumers directly paid for 12% of all healthcare spending in the U.S., as compared to 48% in 1960. This trend has been driven by government policies and is a major factor in the rise of healthcare spending, because it reduces consumers’ incentive to shop for the best value.

by Hoosier Econ

Majority of $159 Billion of Owed IRS Taxes Will Go Unpaid

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JustFactsDaily.com released some new IRS data showing in 2013 there was $159 Billion in unpaid federal taxes. Here is what they found:

Per the IRS’s Fiscal Year 2013 Financial Statement, 78% of unpaid taxes that taxpayers have agreed they owe or courts have ruled they owe are “estimated to be uncollectible due primarily because of the economic situations of the taxpayers.”