I was just reading through the thread about Nurse Practitioners. One issue that came up was bringing down health costs. In my experience attempts to bring down costs, primarily by insurance companies, end up costing them more. For example they don't want to pay for the drug you doctor prefers, so they require you try one that doesn't work first, and then you get the one your doctor wanted to prescribe. You need a referral to see a specialist, so you have to make two appointments instead of one. The doctor refuses to order an MRI so you have to see two or three doctors to get the MRI you knew you needed in the first place, and things are now worse. There are a lot of examples. Do you think all of these measures end up costing everyone more?