Obamacare sign-ups surge. This and other news.

A record number of people signed up for Obamacare in the first few days of open enrollment this year compared to the same period in previous years. This and other news in our latest Health News Roundup.

• The surge in sign-ups comes despite fears from Democrats that enrollment would decline due to the Trump administration's cutbacks in outreach and advertising. However, it's important to note that sign-ups in the beginning of the enrollment season are often people renewing their coverage, not necessarily new enrollees. According to The Hill, on the first day of enrollment on November 1, more than 200,000 people selected a plan for 2018, compared to around 100,000 last year. More than one million people visited healthcare.gov that day, compared to around 750,000 last year, a source revealed.

• The number of on-site health clinics is rising substantially among large companies as employees seek healthcare cost savings. According to a national survey, these clinics provide primary care to employees, initial treatment, referrals for injured workers, and also offer employers the option of occupational health services. Healthstat Inc., which is based in Charlotte, N.C., operates roughly 300 on-site clinics for more than 100 public-and-private-sector clients.

• North Carolina has some of the highest rates of STDs in the nation, including chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Despite the fact that fewer young people are having early sex and pregnancy rates among teens are at a historic low, people in their early 20s are still contracting sexually transmitted diseases. State Department of Health and Human Services officials say that outreach, education, and addressing inequity and buried prejudice in the health care system are a few ways that these rates can be lowered over time.

• If you think sleep is overrated, guess again. A recent article from NPR reports that when people don't get enough sleep, certain brain cells literally shut down. A study that recorded directly from neurons in the brains of 12 people found that sleep deprivation causes the bursts of electrical activity that brain cells use to communicate to become slower and weaker.

Did you sign up for healthcare during early enrollment? Does your company have an on-site healthcare clinic? Let us know on Facebook or share with us in the comments.