In his NYT blog, economist Uwe Rheinhart expresses serious doubts as to the effectiveness of Republican costs control measures.  He writes:

,,, replace the term "cost control" ... with "constraining and possibly reducing the future incomes of doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies and so on."

Given our system of governance, in which political favors can be purchased retail, the task of constraining or reducing the incomes of American health care providers will be a long and arduous battle with powerful, moneyed interest groups. American voters will have to become yet more desperate over the cost of health care before any politician will vigorously confront this powerful armada.

He further explains that tort reform, small business alliances, interstate insurance competition, and pricing transparency would have little effect on overall costs.