Healthcare leaders must begin forecasting where Americans will draw the line on their generosity when it comes to the healthy subsidizing the sick, the insured subsidizing the uninsured, and the wealthier subsidizing the less wealthy.

Personally, I'm concerned about the financial stability of the small physician practices that struggle to cover their costs. Small practices should consider options such as electronic fund transfers or an employment model to streamline financial activities.

Your advertising campaign has officially become old-school. That stock image of pleasant patients and attractive doctors? You aren't catching anyone's attention with that approach anymore. Meet HealthPartners' new mascot: Petey P. Cup. Yes, that's right, a urine specimen cup is a walking, dancing, huggable mascot that makes appearances at clinics, health fairs and events around the Twin Cities. Petey also has a syringe sidekick named Pokey.

I had the honor of joining 40 executive delegates for a week to observe the Irish healthcare system. While spending in the Irish healthcare system is just 7.2% of GDP, the public hospitals are filled to the gills.

Long debates in Congress over mental health parity laws position the most human of health needs up against stretched budgets and market disagreements on treatment value. At the moment, arguments center on insurers' coverage obligations, but few are addressing another debate that is certain to follow.

When the former owner of the NFL's Cleveland Browns announced he was moving the team to Baltimore in 1996, not only were Cleveland fans outraged, ironically, so were Pittsburgh Steelers fans—their biggest rivals. For the two seasons that the Browns franchise remained dark, the Steelers missed the Browns because they had enjoyed the competitive rivalry. The Browns team and its followers were the people they loved to hate.

HIPAA prohibits group plans from charging higher premiums to individuals due to health status, medical history, genetic information, claims experience, receipt of care or evidence of disability. The Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration recently issued guidelines that closed off a loophole that might have allowed employers to charge less healthy workers higher deductibles.

With healthcare quality being so difficult to quantify, flawed ratings are unavoidable. Health plans, patients and governments, however, are desperate for some sort of yardstick by which to judge providers.

Emergency departments (EDs) are a critical safety net for all Americans, and that net is becoming evermore threadbare. It's downright scary when you look closely at the reality of EDs today.