51ÊÓƵ

Survey after survey tells us that Americans are struggling. The latest, the American Psychological Association’s annual gauge of stress in the US, reveals that people continue to feel worse than before the pandemic. The question is what to do about it. (Lisa Jarvis, 11/2)

Once the domain of aging TV stars, hawking health products from vitamins to diabetes supplies to a geriatric demographic, A-list celebrity endorsements of health care products are positively trendy. (Christopher Morse, 11/2)

Approximately 16.8 veterans die by suicide daily. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reported 6,146 veteran suicide deaths in 2020—a 57.3 percent higher suicide rate vis-à-vis non-veteran adults. (Saul Ramirez, 11/2)

’Tis the season — open enrollment season, that is. Since before the Nov. 1 start to the annual open enrollment period, the advertising engines for state health insurance marketplaces, and the federal exchange, healthcare.gov, have been revving up. The nation’s uninsurance rate is down to 7.7% — the lowest it has ever been. While the celebrations of this success are merited, more than 25 million Americans are still uninsured. (Wendy Netter Epstein and Christopher T. Robertson, 11/3)

I was living on the precipice of end-stage disease when I enrolled in the clinical trial that resulted in the historically fast Food and Drug Administration approval for the game-changing cystic fibrosis drug Trikafta. Five years later, the worst parts of my CF are gone. (Gunnar Esiason, 11/3)

Lately, we’ve seen two distinct lines at our hospitals. We would all be healthier if we brought the two lines together. The first line forms every morning before the building opens. Mothers, children, and the disabled clutch passels of documents along the sidewalk. They wait to reauthorize their Medicaid insurance. The second line formed about a decade ago and takes place virtually. Future pediatricians, psychiatrists, and plastic surgeons log on for 30-minute calls seeking entry into residency. They are applying to begin their graduate medical training at our hospitals. (Abraham Nussbaum and Renee Y. Hsia, 11/2)