Quentin Young, M.D., makes his diagnosis clear—America’s health care system is failing. With more than 44 million Americans lacking health insurance, the argument for universal coverage has never been more relevant, he says. Dr. Young has been fighting to abolish profit-driven managed care for most of his medical career, which has spanned more than 50 years. After graduating from Northwestern Medical School, he completed his residency at Cook County Hospital, where he served as chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine through the early 1980s.
The 80-year-old doctor still practices three days a week in Hyde Park and can often be heard as an expert guest on WBEZ, Chicago public radio. He’s a clinical professor of preventive medicine and community health at the University of Illinois Medical Center and senior attending physician at Michael Reese Hospital. Despite remaining active in the medical community, Dr. Young devotes most of his time to combatting the corporate takeover of medicine in America. In 1980, he founded the Health & Medicine Policy Research Group, of which he is currently chairman. Additionally, Dr. Young has mobilized the Chicago-based Physicians for a National Health Program, acting as the organization’s national coordinator. Currently, PNHP consists of more than 10,000 physicians who support a single payer national health insurance. Dr. Young discusses his health care plan, its goals, obstacles and what America has in its favor.