Epstein Becker Green co-founder Steven B. Epstein was prominently featured in the Fall 2008 issue of Columbia Law School Magazine. The article, titled "A Healthy Career," states: "Over the past 40 years, Steven Epstein has crafted a remarkable career and become one of the most influential practitioners in the field of healthcare."
The article also describes Epstein as "a trailblazer in the field" who "has perfected the art of doing well by doing good."
The profile traces his career from the early 1970s, when health care was a new field of law, to his co-founding of Epstein Becker Green, to his current position, which has sometimes been described as "the father of the health care industry."
Epstein, the article adds, balances his professional passions with "a healthy dose of charity work." He serves as chairman of the Columbia Law School Board of Visitors, as well as on the boards of Tufts University and the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. Epstein Becker Green also helps underwrite and provides free space for a leadership program for young African-American men.
In the future, Epstein says, the country must focus on the millions of uninsured Americans.
"One initial way to address this complex and difficult issue would be to arrange for the universal provision of catastrophic care," cases of major illness or injury, said Epstein. "Most people can deal with issues related to going to the doctor for nominal amounts of money, but if they end up with something really serious . . . there is no way those people can afford to pay for it, and we all get stuck with the bill, ultimately."
Epstein has received distinguished alumni awards from both his undergraduate university, Tufts (in 1999) and Columbia Law School (in 2007). In February 2009, he will be awarded Columbia's Medal for Excellence—the Law School's most prestigious award.
