Reflections on the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid

Wilbur J. Cohen has been a Professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin since 1980. He served as Chairman of President John F. Kennedy's Task Force on Health and Social Security (1960-61). Between 1961 and 1968, he served as Assistant Secretary, Under Secretary, and Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, the only person ever to hold all three positions. He was one of the principal architects of Medicare and Medicaid and had primary responsibility for piloting the legislation through Congress, and for its initial implementation.