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.

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."

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

NSA domestic surveillance
In May of 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 plantiff in the case. This suit was part of the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy, during which it was reported that the NSA was maintaining a database of phone calls placed domestically in the United States.

Medical savings accounts
Young is an outspoken opponent of medical savings accounts (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."