Veterans Health Care Task Force Members Announced

The White House has announced the appointment of 13 people to serve as members of a presidential task force that will focus on initiatives to improve health care for the Nation’s veterans.

Heading up the 15-member task force for its 18-month study are former New York Congressman Gerald B.H. Solomon, a long-time veterans’ advocate who served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War, and Dr. Gail R. Wilensky, a prominent expert on health policy who ran the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) for former President Bush. 

“The task force’s goals are to improve access to veterans benefits and to strengthen VA and DoD partnerships for health care services,” said Wilensky.  “Among the items that will be studied are the budgeting processes, billing, reimbursement, procurement of supplies and services, data sharing and information technology.”

President George W. Bush announced creation of the task force on Memorial Day at the White House.  In addition to Solomon and Wilensky, other members of the task force will include health care experts, representatives from veterans and military service organizations and officials who have worked in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DoD) health care systems.

The task force has nine months from the first meeting to give the president an interim report.  The final report is due at the end of the second year.

“The president recognized we need to improve the availability and delivery of health care to both America’s veterans and military retirees,” said Solomon.  “He understands what it means to keep a promise and to get results.  That is what this presidential task force intends to do.”

Susan Schwartz, D.B.A., R.N., is deputy director, Government Relations, The Retired Officers Association (TROA).  At TROA she has followed health care reform legislation, especially its potential impact on military health services.  Before joining TROA, Dr. Schwartz was associate director, Government Relations, for the National Military Family Association.  She is co-chair of the Military Coalition’s Health Care Committee.   She has 19 years of experience as a registered nurse. 

Harry N. Walters served in the Reagan Administration as assistant secretary of the Army and administrator of  the Veterans Administration.  In addition to his distinguished public service, he has served as a director of 12 corporations, eight as chairman of the board.  A 1959 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, he served in the Army from 1959 to 1968.  He is presently a principal of the General Partnership of the Lafayette Equity Fund, L.P., in Washington, D.C.

Josh S. Weston retired in 1998 as chairman of Automatic Data Processing, Inc., where he also served as chief executive officer from 1982-1996.   He has served on many cultural, educational, business and health care boards.  He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy.

Robert F. Wallace has served in many senior positions with the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) after a successful career in banking and New Jersey government.   He received three Purple Hearts in Vietnam serving with the Marine Corps.  While working for the VFW, he has been active in promoting quality VA health care and accounting for American prisoners of war and missing in Southeast Asia.

Everett Alvarez, Jr. was one of the longest-held prisoners of war in Vietnam.   He co-authored Chained Eagle, an account of his eight and a half years as a POW following the downing of his A-4 fighter-bomber.   A high school in his hometown of Salinas, Calif., is named after him.  Mr. Alvarez, a former deputy VA administrator, retired from the U.S. Navy in 1996, and is now a private consultant.

Robert W. Spanogle has been national adjutant of The American Legion since 1981.    He has served in many other leadership roles with the Legion, including executive director of the Washington D.C. office.  He has been active in veterans’ affairs since his undergraduate days following service in Vietnam with the U.S. Army.

Anthony McCann has 19 years of leadership experience in health policy and government management with the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Health and Human Services.   He is presently director of Financial Affairs, Office of Under Secretary for American Museums and National Programs, Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Robert C. J. Krasner, M.D., is vice president, Medical Affairs, MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc.  A retired rear admiral in the Naval Medical Corps, he has been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and Legion of Merit.  Dr. Krasner’s assignments included attending physician to Congress and consultant at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md.

Terry Clark, M.D., is president of Global eMedicine, a technology company that specializes in the development of software tools and workflow processes in the health care field.  He served as chief, Department of Surgery, Veterans Administration, in Anchorage, Alaska.  He is a lieutenant colonel in the Medical Corps, U.S. Army Reserve, and an active duty veteran of the Gulf War.

C. Ross Anthony, Ph.D., has been director, Center for Military Health Policy Research and Senior Economist with the RAND Corporation.  He has served in a variety of health care policy and development positions in the private, public and education sectors; authored numerous publications, and testified frequently before Congressional panels.

Susan Hosek, is professor of policy analysis at the RAND Graduate School and author of many RAND publications.  One of her studies assessed the cost-effectiveness of several managed-care demonstration programs established by DoD.   As head of one of RAND’s defense research centers, she has focused on career opportunities for minority and female officers, the demand for family housing and personal use of pesticides in the Persian Gulf War.

Arthur T. Porter, M.D., is president and chief executive officer of the Detroit Medical Center in Michigan.   He has served on the faculties of Wayne State University School of Medicine, the Medical College of Ohio and the University of Tennessee School of Business Administration.  He is president of the American Brachytheraphy Society and a member of many other medical associations around the world.

Mack G. Fleming served on the staff of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs from 1971 to 1995, including 14 years as majority staff director and chief counsel.  He also worked four years for the Veterans Administration and served on the Commission on Service Members and Veterans Transition Assistance.  Mr. Fleming is a U.S. Army veteran.

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