Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

Market risk represents the risk of loss that may impact our financial condition due to adverse changes in financial market prices and rates. Our market risk exposure is primarily the result of fluctuations in interest rates.

INVESTMENTS AND DEBT

As of December 31, 2024, we had short-term investments of $2.6 billion and long-term investments of $18.8 billion, including restricted deposits of $1.4 billion. The short-term investments generally consist of highly liquid securities with maturities between three and 12 months. The long-term investments consist of municipal, corporate and U.S. Treasury securities, government-sponsored obligations, life insurance contracts, asset backed securities, equity securities and private equity investments and have maturities greater than one year. Private equity investments include direct investments in private equity securities as well as private equity funds. Restricted deposits consist of investments required by various state statutes to be deposited or pledged to state agencies. Due to the nature of the states' requirements, these investments are classified as long-term regardless of the contractual maturity date. Substantially all of our investments are subject to interest rate risk and will decrease in value if market rates increase. Assuming a hypothetical and immediate 1% increase in market interest rates at December 31, 2024, the fair value of our fixed income investments would decrease by approximately $665 million. Declines in interest rates over time will reduce our investment income.

For a discussion of the interest rate risk that our investments are subject to, see "Risk Factors - Our investment portfolio may suffer losses which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations or liquidity."