> The worst piece of legislation ever to be passed in the United States of America.
I don't think it competes with, just for two obvious, off-the-top-of-my-head examples, either the Indian Removal Act or the Alien and Sedition Acts.
> I have seen many patients lose their doctors because the doctors were not contracted with Covered California.
Covered California is the California state health insurance exchange, it does not contract with doctors at all. The individual health insurance plans offered by private companies on the exchange contract with doctors.
> The reason the doctors do not contract with Covered California is because at face value the plan appears to be just like the usual say PPO plan.
Covered California is not a plan, PPO or otherwise. It is the exchange on which plans are offered. A number of different plans, PPO and otherwise, are offered on the exchange.
> The problem with the government effectively taking over Health IT by way of forcing Electronic Health Records to abide by bureaucrats definitions for "meaningful use" is a completely different disaster that has resulted in marked decreases in productivity and worse care for patients.
"Meaningful use" of EHRs is voluntary; the government involvement is providing incentives for meaningful use within the Medicare and Medicaid programs, not penalties outside those programs.
(EDIT: clarification of the meaningful use comments)