Tapping the brakes on health sector's growth in Massachusetts

Massachusetts' healthcare and life sciences companies have been counter-cyclical players through the economic downturn, getting bigger and hiring more people while other businesses were forced to cut back. But now that the Massachusetts economy appears poised for recovery, there are signs the steady growth enjoyed by healthcare, biotechnology, and related industries may be coming to an end. Cost containment efforts by federal and state governments, and at private insurance companies, are putting fresh pressure on the same state providers that went through a growth spurt two years ago when Massachusetts passed a law improving residents’ access to healthcare, the Boston Globe reports.