More About Gail Wilensky and Her Achievements

GAIL R. WILENSKY, Ph.D.
ProjectHOPE
7500 Old Georgetown Road Suite 600
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
(301) 656-7401

EMPLOYMENT
PROJECT HOPE

Senior Fellow (January 1993 – Present)
(John M. Olin Senior Fellow, June 1995 – August 2003)
Develops and analyzes policies relating to health care and the economy; serves as a formal and informal advisor to government and the private sector, and writes and speaks about policies and politics of health care reform.

DEFENSE HEALTH BOARD
President and chair, Health Care Subcommittee (Sept. 2008-August 2009)
Federal advisory board that advises the Secretary of Defense on matters relating to the operations, policies and recommendations relating to the health of DoD beneficiaries.

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TASK FORCE ON THE FUTURE OF MILITARY HEALTH CARE
Co-chair (December 2006 – March 2008)
Congressionally mandated task force to assess and recommend changes to help sustain the military health services provided to members of the Armed Forces, retirees and their families. Focus was on strategies to improve the business, management and clinical practices associated with the delivery of care and also on ways to realign fee structures.

PRESIDENT'S TASK FORCE TO IMPROVE HEALTH CARE DELIVERY FOR OUR NATION'S VETERANS
Co-Chair (June 2001 – May 2003)
Two-year task force created by President Bush to identify ways to improve benefits and services for veterans and military retirees through better coordination of services between the VA and DOD, and to improve business practices and identify opportunities for improved resource use between the VA and DOD.

THE MEDICARE PAYMENT ADVISORY COMMISSION
Chair (October 1997 – 2001)
Congressionally created commission that advises Congress on issues of payment and expenditure growth for all parts of Medicare and on non-payment issues such as risk selection, access to care, quality/performance measures, graduate medical education and the relationship of Medicare with the rest of the health care sector.

THE PHYSICIAN PAYMENT REVIEW COMMISSION
Chair (May 1995 – September 1997)
Congressionally created commission that advised Congress on physician payments and expenditure growth, capitation payments, quality and performance measures for Medicare and on access issues for both Medicare and Medicaid.

THE WHITE HOUSE
Deputy Assistant to the President for Policy Development (1992 – 1993)
Advised and briefed the President, the Vice President, and other senior administration officials on issues related to health care and welfare reform. Led working group of senior officials in developing legislation to implement President Bush's Comprehensive Health Reform Program.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administrator, Health Care Financing Administration (1990 – 1992)
Directed the Medicare and Medicaid programs, with an annual budget of $200 billion and a staff of 4,200. Advised the Secretary and the Administration on issues related to health policy and health care financing.

PROJECT HOPE
Vice President, Health Affairs (1983 – 1989)
Developed the Center for Health Affairs and served as the administrative head for the domestic policy division of Project HOPE.

NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, DHHS
Health Service Fellow and Senior Research Manager (1975 – 1983)
Co-director of the National Medical Care Expenditure Survey and head of the analytic team of NMCES, a longitudinal survey of 40,000 individuals focusing on their health care use, expenditures and health insurance status with follow-on surveys of their employers, insurance companies, physicians and hospitals.

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Visiting Assistant Professor and Associate Research Scientist (1973 – 1975)
Joint research and teaching appointment in the Department of Economics and the Institute of Public Policy Studies . Research Appointment at the Survey Research Center . Teaching responsibilities included public finance and public sector decision-making.

URBAN INSTITUTE
Senior Research Associate (1971 – 1973)
Research focus on micro-simulation modeling of health care expenditures and the relationship between income and education.

MARYLAND COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS
Executive Director (1969 – 1971)
Responsible for advising the Governor on revenue and expenditure estimates for various programs; co-directed a Maryland tax study.

PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION ON INCOME MAINTENANCE PROGRAMS
Staff Economist (1968 – 1969)
Responsible for setting up the micro-simulation model used to estimate the effects of various welfare reform proposals and writing portions of the Commission report.

EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
B.A., 1964 Psychology (with honors and distinction)
M.A., 1965 Economics
Ph.D., 1968 Economics

PERSONAL
Born: June 14, 1943 Detroit , Michigan
Married: Robert J. Wilensky, M.D., Ph.D. August 4, 1963
Children: Peter B. Wilensky May 19, 1969 (DOB)
Sara E. Wilensky May 5, 1971 (DOB)
Grandchildren: Jadyn A. Wilensky Sept. 23, 1998 (DOB)
Jara A. Wilensky June 19, 2002 (DOB)
Jaia A. Wilensky Sept. 14, 2004 (DOB)
(Born to Peter B. and Shawn Davis Wilensky)

HONORS
Honorary Degree, The University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (2002)
Honorary Degree, Rush University (June 1997)
Honorary Degree, Hahnemann University (June 1993)
Marshall J. Seidman Lecturer, Harvard Medical School (April 2003)
John D. Thompson Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Yale Health Management Program (February 2003)
TeKolste Scholar , Indiana Hospital and Health Association (1997)
Member, Institute of Medicine , National Academy of Sciences (1989 – Present)
Who's Who in America (1989 – Present)
Who's Who of American Women (1989 – Present)
Flinn Foundation Distinguished Scholar in Health Policy and Management (1986)
Named as one of the most 100 powerful people in healthcare -- 2003, 2004; and as one of 25 top women in healthcare -- 2005, Modern Healthcare
Regent Lecturer, University of CA, Berkley, November, 2011

AWARDS
Senator John Warner Champion for Military Health Award, Military Health System Conf. (2008)
Darrel J. Mase Distinguished Leadership Award, University of Florida (2000)
The Latiolais Honor Medal, The American Managed Care Pharmacy Association (1996)
Dean Conley Award, American College of Healthcare Executives (1989)
Alumna in Residence Award, University of Michigan (1989)

COMMITTEE AND ORGANIZATION PARTICIPATION
President, Defense Health Board (2008-2009)
Co-chair, DoD Task Force on the Future of Military Health Care (2006-2008)
Commissioner, President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors, (2007)
Commissioner, WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health (2005-2008)
Vice Chair, Maryland Health Care Commission (2004-2008)
Chair, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (1997-2001)
Chair, Physician Payment Review Commission (1995-1997)
Member, Advisory Committee on Health, General Accounting Office, U.S. Congress (1989, 1993-95)
Selected Committees of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council
Member, Health Care Services Board, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies

DIRECTOR AND TRUSTEESHIPS
Director, Cephalon, Inc. (2002-2011)
Director, Quest Diagnostics, Inc. (1997- )
Director, SRA International (2006-2011)
Director, United HealthGroup, (1993- )
Member, Visiting Committee, Harvard Medical and Dental School, (2007- )
Trustee, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (2004- )
Board Member, National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (2004- )
Trustee, United Mineworkers of America, Combined Benefits Fund, (1993- )
Trustee, National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago, (2005- )
Regent, Uniformed Services University for the Health Sciences (2008- )
Previously was a director on the boards of several other public companies including Manor Care, Gentiva Health Services, Shared Medical Services, St. Jude Medical and Marion Merrell Dow.