We expect 6.8% (nominal) y/y growth in US health services demand during 2Q14, the product of 5.2% growth in demand intensity and 1.5% growth in price. Our estimate of demand intensity is sharply higher in 2Q14 – reflecting an expectation
The average premium increase thus far proposed by health insurance exchange (HIE) plans for 2015 is 10%; this compares to 4% to 5% expected income growth for subsidy eligible households We encounter a common misperception that the Affordable Care Act
US Telecom: Merger Mania! Telecom Bankers Rejoice! Telecom bankers have been busy, with 2 blockbuster deals on the table, and a third expected to follow. We believe that that all 3 will be approved by the FCC and DoJ, albeit
“The customer who likes to visit a branch is less price sensitive than a customer whose relationship is online-only. Banks haven’t fully understood that if I have a branch in this neighborhood, it reduces price sensitivity[1].” Frank Rohde, CEO of
Amazon’s announcement of the Fire ‘phone yesterday, along with the launch last October of pay-with-Amazon (allowing customers to use their Amazon credentials to pay on other e-commerce sites), raises the possibility of an Amazon wallet leveraging the firm’s 250mm cards-on-file
It is evident that APD has struggled to find the right candidate to replace John McGlade as CEO. The search has taken longer than would have been expected – suggesting that multiple candidates were screened/approached. It is a shame that
The push back that we received when we included KO in our list of consumer staples M&A candidates was fairly intense – but not unexpectedly so – KO isn’t a controversial stock at this point, but rather one that investors
11 states have disclosed insurers’ proposed rates for plans to be sold on the health insurance exchanges (HIEs) in 2015. The enrollment-weighted average rate increase thus far is 10.0%. These states’ 2014 HIE beneficiaries represent 14.6% of nationwide 2014 HIE
Digital wallet-provider LevelUp reports that mobile payments volume increased 22% over 30 days at the 50 merchants where it installed iBeacon. As discussed in our May 30th note, “Apple vs. Banks in Mobile Payments: Update”, the focus of iBeacon is
There is a secular shift in advertising from generic brand advertising on broadcast channels to data-enabled direct marketing on digital channels. Our colleague, Paul Sagawa, reported on the shift in a research note of June 9th titled “The Revolution in
