Quentin Young

Quentin Young (born 1923) is Chicago-based physician who is recognized for his efforts in advocating for single-payer health care in the United States. An activist who opposed the Vietnam War and worked on the Civil Rights movement, Young is best known for speaking out about social justice in the realm of health policy.

Education and career

Young attended Northwestern University Medical School from 1944 to 1947. He interned at Cook County Hospital in 1947 and did his residency there.Lewis 1994]

Young was Chairman of Medicine for Cook County, Illinois from 1972 to 1981.

Young founded Health and Medicine Policy Research Group in 1980, and is currently Chairman of the Board of that organization.

Young was President of American Public Health Association in 1988.

Young currently has a private practice in Hyde Park, Chicago.

Positions of note

* Clinical Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Illinois Medical Center
* Senior Attending Physician, Michael Reese Hospital
* Member, American Medical Association (since 1952))
* National Coordinator, Physicians for a National Health Program
* Chairman, American College of Physicians' Subcommittee on Human Rights and Medical Practice
* Member, Humana-Michael Reese Medical Board
* Member, American College of Physicians Health and Public Policy Committee

The public's physician

Young appears regularly at public health events and is considered the "de facto" authority on public health in Chicago. He is a frequent guest on Chicago Public Radio, especially the weekday news magazine program Eight Forty-Eight.

Efforts for single-payer healthcare

According to Young, "national health insurance is no longer the best solution, it's the only solution: All other alternatives have been proven disastrous failures."USA Today 2005]

Young has worked with Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) since 1987, a Chicago-based not-for-profit organization.

Activism during the Bush administration

NSA domestic surveillance

In May 2006, Young signed on as a plaintiff in a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against AT&T, alleging that the telecommunications company provided its customers' phone records to the United States government without a court-issued warrant. Young joined historian and author Studs Terkel who was also a plaintiff in the case. This suit was part of the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy, during which it was reported that the National Security Agency was maintaining a database of phone calls placed domestically in the United States.

Medical savings accounts

Young is an outspoken opponent of medical savings account (MSAs), a public health policy promoted by President George W. Bush. Young calls them a "scam on American patients and taxpayers," and "based on the incorrect assumption that Americans are addicts for health care and that if there isn’t a dollar barrier, they’ll overconsume. In fact, Americans get fewer doctors’ visits than people in countries with universal health care."Physician's Weekly 2006]

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

*cite book
author = Lewis, Sydney
title = Hospital: An Oral History of Cook County Hospital
year = 1994
id = ISBN 0-425-15452-1

External links

*cite web
title = ACLU sues AT&T over phone records
work = Chicago Tribune
url = http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-060522aclu-suit,1,2768911.story?coll=chi-news-hed
accessdate = 2006-05-22
*cite web
title = Biography on NPR's Fresh Air
work = Fresh Air
url = http://www.pnhp.org/freshair/young_bio.php
accessdate =
*cite web
title = Are MSAs (Medical Savings Accounts) the wave of the future?
work = Physician's Weekly
url = http://www.physiciansweekly.com/pc.asp?issueid=29&questionid=30
accessdate =
*cite web
title = Few solutions on the horizon as health costs rise
work = USA Today
url = http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2005-09-01-kaiser-news_x.htm
accessdate =