A $13,000 tax bill was the last thing Bill and Cathy Stapp expected when they signed up for Covered California health insurance in late 2013.

Among the hundreds of bills on the Legislature's agenda for August are ones that would make key changes in the lives of California health care workers. Here are five to watch.

For the second year in a row, California is boosting pay for doctors and dentists who treat the state’s poorest residents as part of a legislative deal designed to improve health care access for patients.

A provision of Obamacare that opponents once saw as a potential loophole allowing a Republican president to unravel the law by executive order is now being used by some states to steady their shaky Obamacare markets.

Health-care-related bankruptcies, touted as a key justification for passing Obamacare in 2010, are not nearly as prevalent as reform proponents such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren have claimed, researchers say.

The U.S. agency that administers Obamacare is freezing payments to insurers that cover sicker patients, saying a federal court ruling ties its hands. The move brought a sharp response from health insurers warning of market disruptions and higher costs.