Can we really save money on health care without sacrificing quality?

The New York Times asks the question anew here. I think there are things that can be done. I think, for example, if you're a patient with several chronic illnesses, you end up having duplicate blood work done and that's waste. But the NY Times points out that the data used by the White House in coming up with cost estimates of reform didn't take quality into consideration -- it just compared the cost of care in expensive states to the cost of care in less expensive states, without looking to see if the death rates in the less expensive states were higher (duh? Is it possible that the White House was that stupid?).

Since I no longer believe the NY Times without a lot of skepticism, I don't know the answer to this question. We may just have to wait and see. Jennifer