The world of medical care is no stranger to cross-national commentary. Scientific claims, data, and concerns about new drugs, devices, and procedures fly around the world literally with electronic speed. Professionals jet off to distant lands to consult with colleagues - specialist physicians, administrators, regulators, policymakers, among others. And, in the field of health politics, policy and law, there has been something of an explosion in the cross-national dialogue, one conducted in seminars, conferences, journals, email communities, and consulting assignments. All of that was the topic of an article on the field of comparative policy analysis in health care published in this journal in December of 2005 (Marmor et al.). There the interest was to produce a portrait of the literature in this area, to suggest, as its title put it, the 'promise and perils' of such scholarship. Following soon thereafter, Burau and Blank (2006) addressed the appeal and the limits of typologies in comparative health policy research, emphasizing the importance of 'country-specific institutional contexts' that in turn make 'health policies follow. . . highly complex and specific . . . trajectories'. - Marmor T (2009) Introduction: Varieties of Comparative Analysis in the World of Medical Care Policy Introduction: Varieties of Comparative Analysis in the World of Medical Care Policy, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, Volume 11, issue 3, 289.