Massachusetts, the US state that enacted universal health insurance for its residents in 2006, has now approved a plan to control healthcare costs.

Last week the Massachusetts state legislature agreed on a bill to control healthcare costs over the next 15 years. Governor Deval Patrick, who has set a priority on controlling health costs, said that he will sign the bill into law. It aims to reduce the growth in healthcare costs while improving the quality of care; savings of $200bn (£130bn; €162bn) are predicted over the next 15 years.

The bill says that healthcare costs cannot rise faster than the …