Often it sounded as though the real opponents in this California election were Newsom and Trump – Becerra talked about Hilton’s links to the president, and Hilton talked about Becerra’s links to the governor.

Democrat Xavier Becerra says he wants everyone insured, but hasn’t said how he’d pay for it. Republican Steve Hilton wants to overhaul the system, but hasn't said how much it will cost. The two gubernatorial candidates debate Wednesday on CNN.

California voters will decide on a high-stakes billionaire tax, an $11 billion affordable housing bond and new voter ID requirements.

Kaiser Permanente responded to the strike threat by proposing a solution to move forward with contract negotiations, which if successful, could avert a strike. The strike could impact care at 20 hospitals and 200 clinics.

The state’s action was in response to the Trump Administration’s defunding of all Planned Parenthood centers nationwide.

The unions and Kaiser Permanente are close on a four-year total – 21.5% offered by Kaiser compared to 25% sought over four years by the unions. But the unions want nearly half of those increases – 12% – to occur in the first year.

To save more than $5 billion, the California governor wants to shut down new enrollment for adults who lack legal status and charge premiums. The Legislature has resisted such changes.

California is spending billions more than planned for Medi-Cal. Some of the cost drivers include higher enrollment among immigrants without legal status as well as pharmacy costs.

California is spending billions more than expected on Medi-Cal for coverage expansions that benefit immigrant households.

Sutter Health said it will develop 1 million square feet across two Santa Clara campuses less than a mile apart ‘to bring connected, comprehensive care closer to home.’

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein spoke Thursday night at the Naglee Park home of Karen and Richard Ajluni, an event attended by more than 30 persons, amongst which the local Palestinian American community was well represented. She was introduced by longtime nonprofit executive Ajluni, who cited the ongoing deaths of children in the current Middle East war and said that the two-party system would not change unless voters had the courage to walk away. Stein, sporting a black-and-white kaffiyeh draped around her neck, launched a blistering attack on the Democratic Party, accusing its leaders of selling out to large corporations and oil companies by failing to adequately address the climate crisis, suppressing progressive voices and complicity in what she repetitively described as a genocide.

A higher minimum wage for health care workers takes effect in two weeks, but Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to delay it because of the state budget deficit.

The 250-bed Regional Medical Center, the only hospital in East San Jose, cited less demand as reasons for the cutbacks in services.

Negotiations had resumed after a three-day strike ended Saturday morning and included 75,000 members of the SEIU-UHW and aligned unions.

Hazel Hawkins in Hollister and Watsonville Community Hospitals will get millions in the state's bailout.

Some California hospitals have a nurse vacancy rate of 30%, stressing overworked staff and causing some to leave the industry earlier than they planned.