San Bernardino County is home for Dr. Brian Savino. It is also an area of California with a pressing need for medical providers. Savino, an emergency room doctor, would like to serve the place he grew up for as long as he can.

Pneumonia. Heart problems. High cholesterol. Betsy Carrier, 71, and her husband, Don Resnikoff, 79, relied on their primary care doctor in Montgomery County, Maryland, for help managing their ailments.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s medical mask deal with a Chinese manufacturer could be canceled after the company failed to obtain a federal safety certification.

California’s health care industry has a consolidation problem. Independent physician practices, outpatient clinics and hospitals are merging or getting gobbled up by private equity firms or large health care systems. A single company can dominate an entire community, and in some cases, vast swaths of the state.

The White House is renewing a push to end “surprise” medical bills — possibly as part of the next coronavirus rescue package — in a bid to deliver on protecting insured patients from sometimes staggering costs of emergency or out-of-network care.

The debate over whether Congress will approve a new round of pandemic aid is over. Now it’s just a question of what’s in the package.