Consider the following two statements from a June 2016 report:

Cash Balance Reaches New High: The S&P 500 (Ex-Financials) cash and short-term investments balance was $1.45 trillion at the end of the first quarter (Feb-April), which represented a 5.7% increase year -over-year and a 1% jump from Q4 2015. The balance in Q1represented the largest cash total in at least ten years.

Cash to Debt Ratio Falls to Lowest Level since Q2 2009: The cash to debt ratio for the S&P 500 (Ex-Financials) index fell 3.8% to 34.7% in Q1, which marked the lowest ratio since Q2 2009. Source: http://www.factset.com/websitefiles/PDFs/cashinvestment/cashinvestment_6.27.16

Why do you think cash balances among non-financial companies listed on the S&P are so high? Should they be higher given the reduced cash coverage of outstanding debt?