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For middle-class families with Obamacare, summer 2016 was plagued with headline headscratchers as they learned costs would be going up and choices would be going down. Today, as the fourth enrollment season nears, the news is not getting any better. ... Yet, despite the maze of federal rules, taxes and penalties Obamacare created for the private health insurance market, Democrats are doubling down on government interference in healthcare once again. This time, by advocating for an old, already passed-upon idea: a government-run plan option, or a so-called “public option.” But what they forget is why this idea was not included in their original plan: it simply doesn’t work. (Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., 9/29)

I spent most of my adult life in elected politics in Mississippi, and I saw firsthand the inequities of our health care system. One of the most disconcerting aspects of this inequality existed before the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, when insurance companies denied health coverage for a patient's pre-existing condition. The health care law changed all that. The law remains a political lightning rod, but it accomplished at least one thing that Democrats and Republicans agree needed to be done: It outlawed the practice by insurers of telling a seriously ill patient that she won't be covered for the very care she needs to battle her disease. (Ronnie Shows, 9/29)

[Zika virus] ZIKV vaccine development is advancing rapidly thanks to collaborations among academia, governments, and industry. Current knowledge gaps related to the properties, epidemiology, and pathology of ZIKV increase the complexity of vaccine development, ... but historical success in developing other flavivirus vaccines encourages optimism. (Stephen J. Thomas, Maïna L’Azou, Alan D.T. Barrett and Nicholas A.C. Jackson, 9/29)

The rapid spread of Zika virus through the Americas and its devastating consequences for pregnant women and infants have precipitated an international, multisectoral response. Current prevention strategies focus on mosquito control, protection of the blood supply, barrier protection during sex, and other forms of contraception. When this explosive epidemic abates, Zika virus could remain endemic in many countries, where the risk to pregnant women, the general public, and travelers will persist. Therefore, a safe and effective vaccine is essential. (Hilary D. Marston, Nicole Lurie, Luciana L. Borio and Anthony S. Fauci, 9/29)

In the world of fine wine, it is well known that some types of wine grapes grow only in very specific climates and ecologies. The concept borrowed from the French is “terroir” (ter-WAHR). ... Health policy advocates have sought for generations to propagate promising forms of health care organization across the country. Yet one finds repeatedly that some forms of organization that prosper in one part of the country fail to thrive in others. Is it possible that the concept of terroir also applies in health care? (Jeff Goldsmith and Lawton Burns, 9/29)

HHS has announced the winners of a contest challenging designers to leverage technology to make the inscrutable – the basic healthcare explanation of benefits – so easy to read even a human being can comprehend it. Several hospitals around the country will test the designs. (Joseph Conn, 9/29)

Last week a group of California lawmakers asked the Obama Administration to allow them to go forward with a plan to offer health insurance to undocumented immigrants. Under the terms of the Affordable Care Act, the undocumented are currently prohibited from accessing “Obamacare” coverage, with or without federal subsidies. Now California is seeking an “Innovation Waiver” from the government under a section of the ACA that allows states to experiment with approaches to getting residents covered. If approved, up to 30% of the state’s 2 million undocumented residents could potentially be eligible to buy into the state’s health insurance exchange. (Raul Reyes, 9/29)

As a group, men who choose not to treat their early-stage prostate cancer aren’t any more likely to die from the disease within 10 years as men who choose treatment with surgery or radiation, which often come with potentially life-changing side effects. That’s the main finding of a landmark trial published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine. While important, this finding cloaks the reality that active surveillance — forgoing immediate treatment but regularly monitoring the cancer — isn’t a good option for all men. (Brian Helfand, 9/30)

Last week, I traveled to Hollywood to attend the 20th annual US Conference on AIDS. The stakes there, as they are in this election, could not have been clearer. If current trends continue, one in two black men who has sex with men (MSM) will contract HIV in our lifetime. The rate for Latino MSM is one in four. I shudder to think what the rate would be for young, transgender women who are also disproportionately affected by HIV. This shouldn’t be happening in today’s America, where we’ve made great strides in HIV prevention, treatment, and care. And yet, it is — largely because of structural barriers including stigma, discrimination, and poverty. (Noël Gordon, 9/27)

But as a psychologist, I’m not just interested in pointing out that clowns give us the creeps; I’m also interested in why we find them so disturbing. Earlier this year I published a study entitled “On the Nature of Creepiness” with one of my students, Sara Koehnke, in the journal New Ideas in Psychology. While the study was not specifically looking at the creepiness of clowns, much of what we discovered can help explain this intriguing phenomenon. (Frank T. McAndrew, 9/29)

On the morning Bayer announced its intention to purchase Monsanto, I spoke with both Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant and Bayer Chairman Werner Baumann about the pending merger of these biotech pioneers, and its potential impact on job growth and innovation in Missouri. I gave both of these leaders the same message: Missouri is a world leader in plant and agricultural science, and we intend to stay that way. (Gov. Jay Nixon, 9/30)