A $2.4 billion managed-care organization tax package awaiting votes in the California Legislature reflects the heavy imprint of the state’s health insurance industry, which pushed for major changes to avoid any tax hit that could be passed on to customers.

During the two years before the disastrous opening of HealthCare.gov, federal officials in charge of creating the online insurance marketplace received 18 written warnings that the mammoth project was mismanaged and off course but never considered postponing its launch, according to government investigators.

With Covered California's announcement Wednesday that 1.57 million Californians selected health plans during its third open enrollment period, at least one health care expert believes that the nation's bellwether state in implementing the Affordable Care Act is now essentially running in place.

Premiums for employer-provided health insurance will increase around 5 percent a year over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The California state legislature could vote this week on a proposed tax on health insurance plans that would fund the Medicaid (called Medi-Cal) program to the tune of $1.27 billion annually.

For tax year 2015, millions of Americans will be getting a new tax form related to health care reform measures. Will you know what to do with yours when it arrives?