Viewpoints: Without Subsidies, The ACA Has Become Unaffordable; The US Doesn’t Need A Surgeon General

The Washington Post: The Unaffordability Of Obamacare Comes Home To Roost
Millions of families face sticker shock this weekend as open enrollment begins. The amount health insurers are charging for coverage on Affordable Care Act marketplaces is rising 26 percent on average. That’s not so affordable. (11/1)

The Washington Post: Surgeon General Nominee Shows Why The Office Should Be Scrubbed
[President Donald] Trump’s pick of Casey Means is a reminder of the waste and overreach of the “nation’s doctor.” (Jeffrey A. Singer, 11/3)

Bloomberg: What If The Covid Vaccine Could Save Cancer Patients Too?
That something as simple as a Covid vaccine might improve survival in cancer patients receiving standard immunotherapy has taken oncologists by surprise — in a good way. Unfortunately, the discovery comes at a particularly difficult moment for mRNA vaccines. (Lisa Jarvis, 11/1)

Stat: AI Companions Could Serve As ‘Prosthetic Relationships’ For The Lonely 
At a dinner with friends not long ago, we did what aging friends often do: compared medical notes — statins, arthritis injections, upcoming scans. Then someone added, almost offhand: “Have you tried the new AI? It’s better than the old one.” (Harvey Lieberman, 11/3)

Stat: The NFL, The Q-Collar, And The Need For More FDA Transparency 
The Q-Collar — a neck collar inspired by the woodpecker — has been worn by NFL players and thousands of young athletes. When it debuted in 2012, it originally promised to reduce concussion risk by lightly squeezing the jugular veins, supposedly stabilizing the brain. By 2019, it started to use more ambiguous language, saying the device could “protect the brain.” The company raised tens of millions of dollars and proudly advertises that it is “FDA authorized.” To most consumers, that sounds like proof. It isn’t, as a colleague and I detailed in an investigation in The BMJ recently. (James Smoliga, 11/2)