Statement by the President on Approving the Appointment of Members of the Health Insurance Benefits Advisory Council.
THE SUCCESS of this program which means so much to our older people will depend in considerable part on the help provided by the many professional groups and organizations who will contribute to its administration.
I am grateful to all those who have agreed to serve on this Council. Their contributions and the continued assistance of physicians and other members of the health professions will assure that the new health insurance program will operate for the greatest benefit of our 19 million older citizens.
Note: The President's statement was made public as part of a White House release announcing the appointment of a 16-member Health Insurance Benefits Advisory Council to help formulate policies for the administration of the Medicare program. The release stated that the Council would be chaired by Kermit Gordon, Vice President of the Brookings Institution and former Director of the Bureau of the Budget. The members of the Council, appointed by Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare John W. Gardner and drawn from the fields of medicine, health care, business, labor, insurance, and the general public, are listed in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (vol. 1, p. 490).
For the President's remarks at the signing of the Medicare bill, see Item 394.
The statement was released at Austin, Tex.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Statement by the President on Approving the Appointment of Members of the Health Insurance Benefits Advisory Council. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/241083