Gail R. Wilensky, Ph.D.
Biography
Gail R. Wilensky, Ph.D., an economist and a senior fellow at Project HOPE (an international health education foundation), analyzes and develops policies relating to health care reform and to ongoing changes in the health care environment.
Dr. Wilensky currently serves as adviser to United States presidential candidate Sen. John McCain’s campaign, and is a contributor to the McCain Healthcare Plan.
She is a Commissioner on the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, was co-chair of the Department of Defense task force on the Future of Military Health Care, is vice chair of the Maryland Health Care Commission, and serves as a trustee of the Combined Benefits Fund of the United Mineworkers of America and the National Opinion Research Center.
From 1990 through 1992, she was administrator of the United States Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), directing the Medicare and Medicaid programs. She also served as deputy assistant to President (GHW) Bush for Policy Development, advising him on health and welfare issues from 1992 to 1993.
From 1997 to 2001, she chaired the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, which advises Congress on payment and other issues relating to Medicare, and from 1995 to 1997, she chaired the Physician Payment Review Commission. From 2001 to 2003, she co-chaired the President’s Task Force to Improve Health Care Delivery for Our Nation’s Veterans, which covered health care for both veterans and military retirees. In 2007, she served as a Commissioner on the President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors.
Dr. Wilensky testifies frequently before Congressional committees, acts as an advisor to members of Congress and other elected officials, and speaks nationally and internationally before professional, business and consumer groups. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a Ph.D. in economics at the University of Michigan.
An elected member of the Institute of Medicine, Dr. Wilensky has served two terms on its governing council. She is a former chair of the board of directors of Academy Health, a former trustee of the American Heart Association, and a current or former director on numerous other organizations. She is also a director on several corporate boards.
July 1, 2008
