Wilensky, Gail R.

Gail R. Wilensky is a well-known and highly respected health economist. She has been associated with Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) for many years, she was the administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), and she serves on many important national and international healthcare committees.

Born in 1943 in Detroit, Michigan, Wilensky attended the University of Michigan, where she [Page 1185]earned a bachelor's degree in psychology (1964), a master's degree (1965), and a doctoral degree in economics (1968).

After graduation, Wilensky served as a staff economist on the President's Commission on Income Maintenance Programs until 1969, when she became executive director of the Maryland Council of Economic Advisers. In 1971, she served as a senior research associate at the Urban Institute until 1973, when she accepted the position of visiting assistant professor and associate research scientist at the University of Michigan. In 1975, she worked for the National Center for Health Services Research (now the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality), where she was a health service fellow and senior research manager. In 1983, she joined Project HOPE as vice president of health affairs. In 1990, President George H. W. Bush appointed her administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration (HFMA) (now the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS]). In 1992, she became deputy assistant to the President for policy development at the White House. She returned to Project HOPE in 1993 as the John M. Olin Senior Fellow, where she continues to analyze and develop healthcare policies, advise government and private-sector agencies, and write and lecture on various healthcare topics.

Wilensky has served on a number of important healthcare committees, including the Advisory Committee on Health of the General Accounting Office (GAO), the Physician Payment Review Commission (PPRC), the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), and the President's Task Force to Improve Health Care Delivery for Our Nation's Veterans. She also has served on many committees of the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine (IOM).

Currently, she serves as a member of the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors; Commissioner of the World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on Social Determinants of Health; vice chair of the Maryland Health Care Commission; member of the Board of Trustees of the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia; member of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy; director of the American Heart Association; trustee of the National Mineworkers of America's Combined Benefits Fund; trustee of the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago; director, chair, and vice chair of AcademyHealth; cochair of the Task Force on the Future Health Care at the U.S. Department of Defense; and member of the board of directors for Cephalon Corporation.

Wilensky has received numerous awards and honors, including the Darrel J. Mase Distinguished Leadership Award from the University of Florida (2000), the Latiolais Honor Medal from the American Managed Care Pharmacy Association (1996), the Dean Conley Award from the American College of Healthcare Executives (1989), and the Alumna in Residence Award from the University of Michigan (1989). She has received honorary degrees from the University of the Sciences (2002), Rush University (1997), and Hahnemann University (1993). She was named Marshall J. Seidman Lecturer at Harvard Medical School (2003), John D. Thompson Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Yale Health Management Program (2003), TeKolste Scholar at the Indiana Hospital and Health Association (1997), and Flinn Foundation Distinguished Scholar in Health Policy and Management (1986). Additionally, Wilensky is listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in American Women. She was named as one of the 100 most powerful people in healthcare in 2003 and 2004, and in 2005, she was named as one of the top 25 women in healthcare by Modern Healthcare.

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