All Politics Blog From Milwaukee, Madison and beyond, a daily dose of political news and glimpses behind the scenes SHARE

By of the

Republican Senate candidate Tommy G. Thompson told a tea party group in June that he wants to “do away with the Medicare and Medicaid” – a statement that departs from his previous positions on the topic.

Thompson made his comments at a meeting on June 4 of the Lake Country Area Defenders of Liberty in Oconomowoc. He faces Democrat Tammy Baldwin in the Nov. 6 election.

Democratic groups have been circulating the video saying it shows that Thompson wants to gut the two programs, but a complete airing of his comments to the group is more nuanced.

Presumably referring to his efforts as governor to eliminate Wisconsin’s welfare program, Thompson said “who better than me … to come up with programs to do away with Medicaid and Medicare?”

Thompson has said that he supports making Medicaid a block grant group that would allow state’s to manage it as they see fit.

As for Medicare, Thompson supports vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan proposal to overhaul Medicare: Those over 55 would not be impacted by changes. But those under age 55 would receive a fixed amount from the government to buy health insurance. Thompson tells the tea party group that changes are needed because Medicare will run out of money 2022.

The Medicare fund is schedule to start running a deficit in 2024, according to estimates.

Here are his complete comments on the topic:

“ … change Medicare and Medicaid like I did (to welfare) and who better than me, who’s already finished one of the entitlement programs, to come up with programs to do away with Medicaid and Medicare?

“Let’s block-grant what the state has, and allow the states to determine what’s going to go into Medicaid.

“And Medicare, let’s wait until everybody that’s right now is under 55 reaches 55 … and give them a choice whether they want to purchase health insurance with a subsidy from the federal government, or stay on Medicare."

Here’s a statement, in part, from Thompson’s spokeswoman Lisa Boothe:

“Medicare is quickly headed towards insolvency…

“In this video, Thompson was making the case for reforming Medicare so that we can protect it for current seniors and preserve it for future generations. That is evidenced by his comments at the end of the video where he says he wants people to have a choice to either stay on Medicare as it is or give people another option. Thompson is a proven reformer.

“As governor, he introduced bold, successful reforms in Wisconsin that reduced the amount of families on welfare rolls from 98,000 to 6,800. His plan was then used as a model for reform across the country.”

