About 1.35 million cataract operations were performed in 1991, at a cost of about $3.4 billion to the Medicare program alone, according to government statistics.

Outsourcing is an outlet used by agencies to look outside the organization in an effort to find a provider who will perform a needed service at a lower cost.

Leading urologists estimate that 350,000 of the standard operations will be performed this year at a cost of up to $500 million, including hospital care.

Local buses, in comparison, performed at a cost of $13.57 per revenue mile.

About a million coronary angiograms will be performed in the United States this year, at a cost of about $5,000 each.

But for most uses, he said, poppet valves perform acceptably at a reasonable cost.

The alteration was performed by architect B.W. Devitan, at a cost of $15,000.

"I don't care if directors are well paid, if the fund is delivering shareholder value by performing well at a reasonable cost."

The Explorer is a high-performance but rugged utility aircraft that can perform a wide variety of roles at a lower cost than other equivalent aircraft.

"We have a large department dedicated to this, and we can absorb theirs, performing those functions at a much lower cost than they can."