I have been meandering all over the map with this project but finally have come up with a basic theme and approach. At this point I need to mine some additional data and then I will resume these diaries with a much more focused and annotated text. I'll spare the details now, but it is clear to me that we actually have two very different health care systems operating in the United States which treat very different types of patients and operate with very different financial infrastructures. The idea that we could create one path to health reform for these very different systems does not, it seems to me, have any basis either in reality or policy.
I appreciate all of the responses and feedback that I have received and will shortly resume this project. Stay tuned.