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Hedging Healthcare

The history of the English landscape garden is one of luxury. Rain is abundant but there's the opportunity cost of the land, walls of needy hedges, lawns to cut, and sweat. All throughout England, hedges or hedgerows, mark the landscapes. They were also developed as mounds of dirt topped with bushes to act as a barrier between properties and roads. The protection, or barrier of hedging, is at the root of its definition, and what it's intended to do. In Spanish, to "hedge" in the financi ...

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JP Morgan’s $100 Million

At the center of this 1918 picture is John Pierpont Morgan, JP Morgan, the founder of the eponymous firm (now JPMorgan Chase & Co.) who helped bail out the US government during the panic of 1893. I wish I could say the photobombing kid was my grandpa. That would be a great family story. Today the company is run by acclaimed CEO, Jamie Dimon, who's linked with Warren Buffett and Jeff Bezos on the Haven healthcare initiative to improve healthcare outcomes and lower costs for the firms and the ...

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April’s Index

While not as funny as the image above, this month's index brings cool, interesting, and thought-provoking stats related to healthcare and finance. Enjoy. Percentage of HealthyEquity's revenue derived from monthly services fees: 35%. In 2014: 50%. The dollar value of moving up one metal tier for a single employee with employer-provided coverage: $450-500 (Analysis of underlying data from the Kaiser Foundation 2018 Employer Survey). Cost of an average emergency room visit in the Unit ...

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Who’s To Blame?

Hardbacks are supposed to sell for more. They cost more to make, are studier, and look cooler. Elisabeth Rosenthal's An American Sickness is now on Amazon, with the hardcover edition priced at a 38% discount to the paper version. What gives? Dig a little deeper and not being part of prime ($5 more for slower shipping), and the pricing arbitrage makes more sense. The lesson: don't take all observations or claims at face value. Prices aside, Rosenthal's book is worth a read for anyone interest ...