Many businesses in low-wage industries have hired more part-time workers and cut the hours of full-timers recently to soften the impact of new health law requirements that take effect Thursday, some consultants say.

Almost 145,000 Blue Shield of California members who get their health benefits through work will be affected by a contract break with Sacramento-based Sutter Health - if it holds.

Remember those end-of-the world predictions from Nostradamus, the ancient Mayans and Pat Robertson that we somehow survived? The "employer mandate" may be Obamacare's version of that.

The state Senate and Assembly reconvene on Monday in Sacramento. Both houses have new leadership and the makeup of both health committees also has changed.

Jerry Brown was sworn into his fourth term as governor of California Monday morning. In a wide-ranging inaugural address (that doubled as a State of the State address), he included some brief remarks about the Affordable Care Act.

When shopping for health plans, the dollar amount of the deductible is usually easy to find in plan materials.