Californians are struggling to pay their health insurance bills while insurance companies' profits are on the rise. One apparent fix is Assembly Bill 52 authored by Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, that would allow state regulators to reject excessive rate increases. However, the recent experience of Massachusetts suggests that this California bill may not go nearly far enough.

The Republican majority has passed a bill out of the House of Representatives to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law last year by President Obama. Though the vote itself is symbolic, the hostility to the law is very real.

Here are the three most important things to understand about the “repeal” effort.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is deciding whether to sign legislation that would create the "California Health Benefit Exchange," a key piece of federal health care reform. This is the perfect time, therefore, to clear the air about what the exchange will and won't do. A clear-eyed account of the facts about the exchange shows it to be the exact kind of moderate solution that the governor has pushed for throughout his tenure, one that combines a concern for the public good with the power of the private market.

Tuesday, Missouri voters overwhelmingly passed a measure giving their state the power to ignore the federal law requiring people to have health coverage. These voters are clearly worried about government control of health care. But they’re playing a dangerous game that could spark a real government takeover.

The United States already has large, government-financed health care systems. Consider Medicare.