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Tommy Thompson on Health Care
Former Secretary of H.H.S.; former Republican Governor (WI)
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Convert illness & disease system to wellness & prevention
Q: What do you think of Sen. Grassley’s compromise plan to cover 3.2 million more poor children by raising the cigarette tax, which Pres. Bush has threatened to veto--who do you side with, Pres. Bush or Sen. Grassley? A: Neither one of them are right.
The problem is, we’ve got a sickness, illness and disease society. We spend 90% of $2 trillion--that’s 16% of the gross national product--on getting people well after they get sick.
Less than 10% of the money keeping you out of the hospital, out of the nursing home. Does anybody in America think that’s a smart idea? I think it’s dumb. Let’s go to wellness and prevention. Number two, let’s start managing diseases in America.
Let’s make sure that individuals that are chronically ill and physically disabled are able to get the quality of health and therefore get the quality of life. They take up 66% of the cost. You could reduce that down to 50%.
Source: 2007 GOP Iowa Straw Poll debate
Aug 5, 2007
End breast cancer by the year 2015 for all women in America
Q: What is the defining mistake of your life and why?A: My mother-in-law died of breast cancer. My wife has breast cancer.
My young daughter has breast cancer. I don’t think I was supportive enough, and that’s why I’m vowing right now to end breast cancer by the year 2015 for all the women in America.
Source: 2007 GOP Iowa Straw Poll debate
Aug 5, 2007
Transform health care into wellness & prevention system
We spend $2 trillion on health care; that’s 16% of the gross national product. 93% of the cost of health care goes into waiting until after you become sick.
Only 7% of the money is used to keep you well in the first place. We got to completely transform the health care system, make it a wellness system, and make it a prevention system.
Source: 2007 GOP debate at Saint Anselm College
Jun 3, 2007
Educate public about chronic illnesses, to avoid them
- We got to completely transform the health care system, make it a wellness system, and make it a prevention system.
- We have 125 million Americans that have one or more chronic illnesses. In order to change this we have to educate the
American people about tobacco, about diabetes, about cardiovascular and about obesity. You do that, you’ll be able to change health care.
- 25% of Americans use 2/3 of the cost of health care.
If you manage those diseases, you can reduce that down to 50% and save lots of money.
- information technology--electronic medical records, a patient bill of rights, and be able to have
ePrescribing, and if you do that, you’re going to be able to save billions of dollars. If you just go paperless, you will save 10% of the cost of health care.
Source: 2007 GOP debate at Saint Anselm College
Jun 3, 2007
Supports eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health
In recent years, widespread attention has been focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health. Pres. Clinton & his Secretary of Health & Human Services committed the nation to the ambitious yet reachable goal of eliminating racial and
ethnic disparities by 2010 in six areas of health status while continuing the progress that has been made in improving the overall health of the American people. The six focus areas of the initiative are:- infant mortality
- cancer screening and
management
- cardiovascular disease
- diabetes
- HIV infection/AIDS
- immunizations.
This initiative enjoys bipartisan support, and has been endorsed by current HHS Secretary Thompson. Through this dialogue, a number of proposals emerged for
addressing disparities, including:- enhancing access to health insurance
- addressing numerous gaps in research
- educating and training culturally proficient health care practitioners
- educating and empowering health care consumers.
Source: Thomas Perez at Symposium on Diversity in Health Professions
Jul 1, 2001
Vows to protect Medicare, add drug benefit
We will modernize Medicare so it is effective and financially sound for today’s seniors and for tomorrow’s. And, we must find a way to provide seniors and the disabled affordable access to prescription drugs. In the next few weeks,
we will craft a Patient’s Bill of Rights. We will aggressively act to provide access to affordable health insurance for the more than 43 million Americans who are uninsured.
Source: Introductory speech to HHS Employees
Feb 2, 2001
Support small business insurance pool for uninsured
The governor is investing $400,000 in one-time seed money to bring small businesses together to provide health coverage for their workers. The small business health insurance pool will be operated in the private sector.
Source: WI Governor’s website
Jan 8, 2001
Goal is for all WI residents to have health benefits
Wisconsin ranks second in the country with highest percentage of its residents covered by health insurance at 94 percent. But Gov. Thompson is working to extend affordable health insurance to everyone.
The Badger Care program will provide affordable, quality health care benefits to all low-income working families with income below 185% of the federal poverty level.
Source: WI Governor’s website
Jan 8, 2001
Supports prescription drug savings plan for poor seniors
I am proposing a Low-Income Prescription Drug Savings Plan that will save seniors $792 a year. Anyone over 65 with an income below 185 percent of poverty will be eligible. The program cuts the prices for the most expensive drugs covered by Medicaid,
passes the savings to low-income seniors who pay for medications out of pocket, requires pharmacies to charge no more than the Medicaid reimbursement rate.
Source: State of the State speech
Jan 26, 2000
BadgerCare will provide uninsured with affordable care
Federal officials and the State of Wisconsin have reached an agreement that will allow our state to offer BadgerCare, a program that will provide health insurance for the very poor.
Under the plan, Wisconsin will receive critical federal money to help 48,800 uninsured low-income families - including 22,700 children and -- have access to high quality health care.
For the first time, working families who have no insurance through their workplace, or who can’t afford to purchase insurance, will have affordable health care. The plan fills gaps between Medicaid and private insurance without
supplanting or “crowding out” private insurance. The service delivery system for BadgerCare is built on Wisconsin’s existing Wisconsin Medicaid HMO managed care system.
Source: Speech on health care
Dec 27, 1998
Let states reform Medicaid; fight “one size fits all”
[Under the 1981 Boren Amendment], states get sued if we do not pay enough [for healthcare]. It has cost Wisconsin $120 million. It has proven to be one of the most costly federal regulations on record.
Imposing a “one size fits all” mandate ends up costing more.Medicaid costs have been increasing at an average of 20% a year, and they make up about 20% of all state spending.
This leaves budgets with escalating Medicaid costs that are almost bankrupting states. We have used managed care and HMO’s in order to reduce payments in Wisconsin to one half the national average.
I am fighting hard to get Washington to recognize
the importance of sharing authority. Give us a chance at the state level to make programs more effective for the individual citizens of our states. The states know what to do. Give us the freedom to do it.
Source: United We Stand America Conference, p.208-9
Aug 12, 1995
Maintain Medicare funding of HMO benefits.
Thompson signed the Midwestern Governors' Conference resolution:
- WHEREAS, Medicare premiums paid to Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO) are set at 95% of the current fee-for-service Medicare spending on residents of the county where the HMO is to be offered; and
- WHEREAS, The lack of readily accessible medical care in some areas results in lower utilization of medical services and lower Medicare spending; and
- WHEREAS, The combination of the Medicare HMO premium formula and differences in medical care service utilization results in fewer medical benefits for many Medicare HMO participants in rural, and other low medical care utilization areas; and
- WHEREAS, Medicaid will likely be used to fill the coverage gap in these areas, requiring additional state money; and
- WHEREAS, Language in the 1997 Balanced Budget Act was designed to address these inequities; now therefore be it,
- RESOLVED, That the Midwestern Governors’ Conference encourages Congress to continue its effort to address these inequities, and to resist efforts to reverse the changes made to Medicare HMO premiums in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.
Source: Resolution of Midwestern Governors' Conf. on Medicare Equity 99-MGC2 on Oct 14, 1999
Protect state tobacco settlement funds from federal seizure.
Thompson adopted a letter to Congressional leaders from 53 Governors:
As you know, preserving and protecting the state tobacco settlement funds is the nation’s Governors’ highest priority. We strongly urge you to reach final agreement and pass the conference report on the emergency supplemental appropriations bill soon, and to retain the Senate provision that protects our settlement funds from federal seizure.
Many of our state legislatures are currently in session, and some have already completed work on their budgets. Therefore, it is critical that conferees reach agreement quickly on this issue. Governors are unified in their commitment to ensuring that the funds remain in the states and that there be no restrictions on states’ ability to tailor spending to meet the needs of their citizens.
We offer our strongest support for conferees to recede to the Senate version of the bill containing the Hutchison/Graham bipartisan tobacco recoupment protection legislation.
Source: National Governor's Association letter to Congress 99-NGA31 on Apr 14, 1999
Page last updated: Feb 08, 2010