The Affordable Care Act was aimed mainly at giving people better options for buying health insurance on their own. There were widespread predictions that employers would leap at the chance to drop coverage and send workers to fend for themselves.

Moving into a realm usually reserved for health care regulators, Covered California Thursday unveiled sweeping reforms to its contracts with insurers, seeking to improve the quality of care, curb its cost and increase transparency for consumers.

More wages, less health insurance. In a recent survey, one in five people with employer-based coverage said they would opt for fewer health benefits if they could get a bump in their wages. That’s double the percentage who said they would make that choice in 2012.

State insurance commissioner Dave Jones continued to make his skepticism clear regarding Anthem Inc.’s proposed $54.2 billion acquisition of Cigna Corp. during a hearing here on Tuesday.

The State of California’s dental health system for the poor is “dysfunctional” according to ascathing report issued Friday by a bipartisan oversight commission.

People newly insured under the Affordable Care Act were sicker, used more medical care and had higher medical costs than those who already had coverage, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association said Tuesday in a new study of its policyholders.