The conversation on this blog will be different from most of what you’ve seen. After a truly epic debate, a new strategy for health insurance is now the law of the land. If the battle over passing it was huge, the challenge of making it work will be even larger. Health care, as pundits of every stripe have bleated, represents 1/6 of the U.S. economy—and a part of the economy in which every American has a living, breathing interest. The massive health reform bill’s 2700 pages contain lots of bold promises and a whole lot of unanswered questions.

This blog will be different because it will focus on the central puzzle: Just how is this going to work? What steps have to be taken to fulfill the act’s mega-promises? Just as important, how is the government going to balance the competing forces: for government leadership versus individual control; for broad coverage versus cost savings; for the best way of preserving our quality of life versus bankrupting the country? We’re not talking only about making health care reform work. We’re also talking about developing important new tools for government and redesigning the way it works.