Under existing law, the California Department of Managed Health Care and the California Department of Insurance review rate hikes proposed by the insurers and health plans each regulates.

A measure to protect California consumers from surprise medical bills — among the longest-debated issues to be considered by state lawmakers — moved closer than it’s ever been to becoming law when the Senate approved it Monday with a 35-1 vote.

Roughly 20 million more Americans have health insurance now than when President Obama’s health care law was passed in 2010.

The 2010 health law was meant to expand insurance coverage so that Americans could get medical care they would otherwise go without — and not spend a fortune doing so. Though it’s still early, new evidence suggests this scenario is playing out.

The Obama administration has launched a probe into whether health-care providers such as dialysis centers are steering patients eligible for Medicare and Medicaid benefits into insurance plans offered on the health law’s exchanges.

Medicare spending on prescriptions increased more than 17% in 2014, despite a claims increase of only about 3%, according to data released Thursday.