Tommy Thompson, Secretary of Health and Human Services, is stepping down from the Bush Cabinet, making him the eighth member to leave. Thompson did not make it a secret that he intended to leave Bush’s cabinet. He even attempted to leave once before, only to be talked into staying for the entire first term. Thompson was also governor of Wisconsin for 14 years, which is a state record. So, with his latest move to join the private sector, what is the legacy that Secretary Thompson will leave behind for his replacement?
As HHS Secretary, Thompson has had to deal with three problems that the United States has never faced before and that have caused widespread panic. There was mad cow disease, the anthrax scare and the flu vaccine shortage. There was also the SARS scare, in which Thompson added more flame to the fire of the panic Americans were feeling by saying that SARS would not go away and that there will be many deaths worldwide. Good job. These are things we are all aware of. However, what about the not-quite-as-newsworthy actions Thompson has made?
Well for one, he has his excellent relations with the Philip Morris Tobacco Company. Who could forget the trips to Australia, England and Africa that Mr. Thompson took with money from the Philip Morris family in 1995-96? Not to mention the thousands of dollars in campaign contributions that he accepted from tobacco companies?
With his background in soft money from tobacco companies in mind, it’s really no surprise that Thompson has been so adverse to the idea of holding them accountable for what they do, including targeting teens in ad campaigns and selling products with such high health risks.
Then of course, there is the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enacted in 1997 that was recently changed by Thompson to give prenatal care to fetuses but not to pregnant women. This addendum to CHIP did not add any additional funding for prenatal care, but used the rhetoric of “fetal health care” and “fetal rights” to advance the anti-choice position. This has caused many women to worry that Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case that solidified a woman’s right to choose, is in danger. Moreover, if Thompson had his way, along with President Bush and others in his cabinet, women would lose their right to choose.
Also along the lines of reproductive health, abstinence-only sex education has, to the dismay of many, run rampant in the years of the Bush administration. This policy of not mentioning condoms or other contraceptives in sex education is not only faulty, but also dangerous. This negligent attempt at preventing teen pregnancy and the spread of STD’s, however well meaning it may be, is simply unacceptable.
In addition, let’s not forget the fact that the rate of uninsured Americans has risen during Thompson’s reign. The Medicare reform package, which gave a huge deal to the big drug companies and hurt individual Americans, was produced under Thompson’s watch. Thompson also is adamant about not believing in universal health care, which has left the millions of uninsured without an advocate in the Bush administration.
Not all of what Thompson has done has led to such setbacks, however. He is in favor of promoting stem-cell research and has been a voice of reason in this administration’s bioethics conversation. With there being fewer embryonic stem cells already in existence than estimated, the Bush administration needs to make some concessions to keep up with the progress they had promised. And throughout all of this, Thompson has held the highly controversial position that stem-cell research is acceptable while abortion is not.
Thompson has also led the way for IT medical care, a step he says will result in less error and fewer deaths. A computerized and more efficient method of keeping doctors informed of practice guidelines or reminding patients when to go to the doctor or patient charts available to doctors online would be a great step forward for the U.S. healthcare system. Although this will take years to put in place, Thompson has set expectations high and hopefully things will move on without him.
With all of this in mind, Thompson’s replacement has some big shoes to fill. Only time will tell if this new Secretary of Health and Human Services will be comparable to Tommy Thompson and hold similar views, and whether or not you consider that to be a positive or a negative goal.
Julie Isen ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in political science.