State Sen. Ed Hernandez's attempt to push through a drug pricing transparency bill sputtered this year, but the West Covina Democrat still wants his colleagues to weigh in on the latest controversy in the cost of prescription drugs: the surging price of EpiPens.

This year, taxpayers will cover about 70 percent of what is spent on health care in California, according to a new analysis released Wednesday by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

State Sen. Ed Hernandez and his wife, Diane, are optometrists.

Surprise medical bills happen when patients seek care from a facility within their health insurance network but then unknowingly receive services from an out-of-network provider, such as an anesthesiologist, who's not covered by their insurance.

A number of readers asked about this tweet, which was a summary of comments made by Earnest during a White House press briefing.

Despite much hand-wringing about health insurers exiting the marketplaces where people buy individual coverage, in many areas consumers will likely still have a choice of plans when the 2017 open enrollment starts in November.