Tommy Thompson’s “Wellness” Parade

The former Repug presidential candidate spoke recently in Philadelphia, as reported by the Inquirer here…

Because health costs are hurting businesses and because Medicare is approaching bankruptcy, (Thompson) said the new president and Congress will have do something next year. It will help to promote electronic medical records and prescriptions, he said, as well as to create tax incentives and buying pools to make insurance more affordable for low income people.

To be fair, I should note that Thompson instituted something called “BadgerCare” (not for the little woodland animals, but people; I’ve never lived in Wisconsin, so I have to admit that I’m not into the whole “badger” thing).

Wikipedia tells us here that…

(BadgerCare was) designed to provide health coverage to those families whose employers don't provide health insurance but make too much money to qualify for Medicaid. Through the federal waiver program, Thompson helped replicate this program in several states when he became Secretary of Health and Human Services.

It actually has been a good program. So good in fact that, as noted here, Thompson’s DHS successor Mike Leavitt cut its funding (typical).

And if I were Thompson, I wouldn’t say much about Medicare; as noted here…

Thompson, who served during President Bush's first term, is on the board of Centene Corp., a St. Louis-based company that operates Medicaid-funded health maintenance organizations in Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin. His proposals to move more Medicaid beneficiaries and uninsured people onto such plans could improve the company's bottom line.

Thompson also is chairman of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, part of Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, a consulting firm that has contracted with states to help improve their Medicaid programs. If Thompson becomes a driving force behind revamping Medicaid, states who hire Deloitte may feel they are contracting with a player. Ditto for clients' perceptions of the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, in which Thompson is a partner and which has health-care and insurance industry clients.

Thompson also is a part-owner and board member of VeriChip Corp., which makes microchips that store data and can be implanted in humans. The company might benefit if Medicaid were to embrace electronic medical records.

Yep, sounds like Tommy could end up turning a buck or two through privatization of Medicare/Medicaid. Also, the Inquirer tells us…

Thompson, who said he has snatched cigarettes away from employees, said companies should ban smoking and encourage better eating. He suggested subsidizing healthy foods in the company cafeteria and charging "five bucks for a hamburger, 10 bucks for a cheeseburger and 20 cents for a French fry."

And if all else fails, Thompson could try to persuade al Qaeda to poison our food supply; he wondered why they have not done so already here.