A health care “disaster” is brewing in the United States, according to El Monte doctor Ignacio de Artola.

Twenty-five percent of Americans have health problems that dramatically increase their risk of developing heart disease and diabetes. Among Latinos, that incidence jumps to 50 percent.

But disaster can be averted if these people get access to regular primary care, according to de Artola, who is director of the Cleaver Family Wellness Clinic in El Monte and a professor at the University of Southern California.

Like all things in health care, that is easier said than done.