Starting Tuesday, Nov. 1, through Jan. 31, Californians who don’t have employer-based health insurance or Medicare can sign up for health insurance through the state’s marketplace, Covered California. That’s the easy news.

Health policy has become a highly charged partisan issue in American politics. Each party claims its policies will improve the quality, efficiency, and availability of American health care, while the other party’s policies will destroy what is good about the health care system that Americans enjoy now.

With open enrollment underway as of Tuesday, some health insurance brokers are already fielding questions about coverage and whether existing plans will still be available next year. For an increasing number of brokers, in California and elsewhere, there’s also another question: How much will they get paid, if at all?

The one shred of power Republicans hold in the California statehouse — enough seats to block Democratic lawmakers from having a “supermajority” — is on the brink in this election.

The battle to convince California voters to approve a ballot initiative aimed at curbing prescription drug prices appears to be tightening as the pharmaceutical industry steps up its attacks, according to poll results released on Friday.

As many as 140 million Americans will have already voted for president, members of the U.S. House and Senate, governors and state legislators by the end of Monday in an election that will have a major impact on the future direction of U.S. health care.