While the debate on the health care overhaul has focused on covering the uninsured, experts say the bill's efforts to control costs are equally important.

One reason they haven't gotten as much attention is that many are pilot programs.

As explained in a recent article in The New Yorker, no one knows exactly how to keep the cost of health care from continuing to grow, so the bill encourages experimentation with a number of new programs.

"This is not going to be a one-size-fits-all," said Ellen-Marie Whelan, senior health policy analyst and associate director of health policy at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank. "But all of these done in tandem is really going to move us to a new way of delivering health care."

Experts say that many of the programs look promising, but emphasize that their success in reducing costs and improving care will depend on how they're implemented.

"Oftentimes these pilots become too narrow and they don't get enough support," said Dennis G. Smith, senior fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation's Center for Health Policy Studies. "The real key will be finding partners … and getting them to develop the projects."

If the programs work, they could spread quickly. The bill allows the federal government to extend and expand most of the pilot projects without further approval from Congress.

Below are a few notable programs from the Senate bill (HR 3590 ) and how they might or might not work.

Better care, higher payments for hospitals
Section 3001

Under this program, a percentage of hospitals' payments would be based on how well they meet quality measures for cardiac, pneumonia and surgical care, and other common and expensive conditions.

The program is similar to the Medicare "Premier" demonstration program that based hospital bonuses on quality indicators and has largely been considered a success.

"There has been improvement in performance across the board – and improvement in efficiency across the board as well," said Stuart Guterman, assistant vice president for the Commonwealth Fund's program on Payment System Reform. "Emphasizing high quality care can reduce lengths of stay and potentially reduce the number of readmissions – And readmissions are very costly and more importantly, bad for the patient."

Yet Whelan said basing payment on certain quality measures could also encourage hospitals to "play to the tests," just as some teachers have been accused of only teaching the material on standardized tests.

"It doesn't necessarily change the way health care is delivered," she said.

Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis agreed.

"There's always a concern that if you focus on those things, there are other things that don't get attention," Davis said. "If you don't have a comprehensive system, they'll just play to the tests and work on the things they get rewarded on."