What do you think are the top three most important issues in health and medicine in the United States today?

You are likely to get many different answers to this question, and it is up to you to sort out which three issues you think are most important. There are many pressing problems, but I will discuss three: obesity, the availability of affordable healthcare, and the lack of funding for research. 

Obesity in the United States is epidemic.  Somewhat more than one-third of all adults in the United States are obese, a frightening statistic.  This is not just about appearance, but more about people's health. Obesity leads to diabetes and heart disease, and it exacerbates pretty much any other health problem a person can have. For example, if one has arthritis, the extra weight causes more strain and pain on the obese person. This is an American tragedy, since obesity is a problem that can be solved, one person at a time.  

In spite of the Affordable Care Act, which has made things somewhat better, even adequate healthcare remains unaffordable for many Americans.  The cost of the insurance itself is going up, and co-pays and deductibles are going up as well, making people choose sometimes between seeing a doctor and buying gas to go to work or between getting a needed prescription and having enough food to eat.  This might seem like an exaggeration, but for a family, there might be a deductible of over $6,000 annually, which is a hefty sum to come up with in order to have full coverage thereafter. 

Since the advent of the notion of a balanced budget and small government, medical research has fallen on very hard times.  If there is money to be made on research, there is private investment for that purpose, but otherwise, it is up to the government to fund a great deal of medical research.  Not all research is profitable, and there is a pressing need for more of it. Medical research funding has not only not kept up with inflation, but also, it has experienced actual cuts.  The National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control, as well as universities that have government-funded research, have fallen on very hard times.  

Again, there are so many issues that are important in medicine and healthcare, but these, obesity, affordable healthcare, and funding for research, seem to me to be particularly pressing.