What is the biggest health care problem facing America today?
A. There are many serious health care problems, such as increasing access to care for the uninsured, preventing medical errors, reducing obesity, and preventing chronic diseases like diabetes and asthma. But if I had to focus on just one problem, I think it would be the need to reduce health disparities affecting the nation’s minorities. Today’s physicians must respond to the health care needs of an increasingly diverse society with rapidly changing demographics. Consider that in this nation of 281 million people, 12.3 percent are African American, 13 percent are Hispanic, nearly 4 percent are Asian or Pacific Islander, nearly 1 percent are Native American and Alaska Native, and nearly 7 million people, or 2 percent, are multi-racial. The nation’s minorities are disproportionately affected by many health problems. They have a significantly shorter life span than whites and higher rates of disease and mortality from disease. This is partly the result of lack of access to a regular prima
