OK, Mr. President-elect — whoever you may be — you have your work cut out for you, particularly in the area of health care. Although the issue is often ignored in public discourse in favor of the more saucy topic of security, health care is a silent battleground that is always on the mind of the average Joe and Jane, especially as they get older.

The first daunting quagmire facing our new president will be securing Social Security for the future. Experts have estimated that the funding under the current system will run out near 2040, well before any college-age citizen is capable of receiving its benefits. Reform and bipartisan are the key words here. It will take many hours of grueling debate, but a solution will have to emerge sometime in the next several decades to save Social Security.

In the short term, we must protect our seniors. Their taxes cannot be raised nor benefits be reduced. However, in the long run, it means raising taxes — very slowly. The money has to come from somewhere, and it isn’t realistic to suppose some magic solution will solve that problem.

Medicare is another hot topic for the new president — particularly securing affordable prescription drugs. Surprisingly, our dear neighbor to the north is not the perfect solution. But, Canada has succeeded in something U.S. citizens can only dream of — prescription drugs at reasonable rates. Importing is not the answer, considering the sheer size difference between the two nations. The Canadians would be out of medicine faster than DPS can ticket your illegally parked car. It does mean the United States should start looking for answers in the Canadian health care system — like price controls.

It may go against the capitalist free-market economy — not to mention it will never pass Congress — but it would be a drastic, and likely successful, way to combat drug costs.

The next president cannot ignore health care. Social Security and prescription drugs may be at the forefront of the topic, but important issues like malpractice insurance, stem-cell research and health care for minorities, women and children also rank among key concerns for the next president.