Biography of Gail Wilensky

As a Senior Fellow at Project HOPE, an international health education foundation, Dr. Gail Wilensky analyzes and develops policies relating to health reform and to ongoing changes in the medical marketplace. Testifying frequently before Congressional committees, she acts as an advisor to members of Congress and other elected officials, and speaks nationally and internationally before professional, business and consumer groups.

From 2001 to 2003, Dr. Wilensky co-chaired the President's Task Force to Improve Health Care Delivery for Our Nation's Veterans, which covered healthcare for both veterans and military retirees. 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. Previously, Dr. Wilensky served as Deputy Assistant to President (GHW) Bush for Policy Development, advising him on health and welfare issues. Prior to that, she was Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration, overseeing the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Dr. Wilensky is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of The National Academy of Sciences and its Governing Council, and serves as a trustee of the Combined Benefits Fund of the United Mineworkers of America, the American Heart Association, and on the Advisory Board of the National Institute of Health Care Management. She is an advisor to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund, immediate past chair of the Board of Directors of Academy Health and is a director on several corporate boards. Dr. Wilensky received a bachelors degree in psychology and a Ph.D. in economics at the University of Michigan.