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Ex-HHS chief has ideas on how to get people to get healthy 

ormer U.S. Health & Human Services Secretary and four-term Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson has his eyes on a higher prize.

That's the clear impression left by his keynote speech at a Sept. 16 Urban Health Care conference sponsored by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, along with Kaiser Permanente, Catholic Healthcare West, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and California Pacific Medical Center.

Thompson, who left his HHS post in January to turn to consulting and legal work, gave an impassioned talk on ways to improve the U.S. and California health-care systems, including some that sounded a bit strange coming from a former senior member of the Bush administration. For example, the self-described conservative told of making his HHS employees go on diets and forcing them to go not just outside the building but across the street to take a smoking break. "I wouldn't let them smoke on our property," he said. "I made them go over and smoke on the property of the EPA."

Thompson advocated having tobacco regulated by the Food & Drug Administration, putting a dollar-a-pack tax on cigarettes to fund smoking cessation programs,

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I wouldn't let them [smokers at the DHHS] smoke on our property. I made them go over and smoke on the property of the EPA.
Former U.S. Health & Human Services Secretary and four-term Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, in his keynote speech at a Sept. 16 Urban Health Care conference in San Francisco. Thompson advocated having tobacco regulated by the Food & Drug Administration and putting a dollar-a-pack tax on cigarettes to fund smoking cessation programs.