President Bush’s former health secretary Tommy Thompson is putting the final touches to a plan that could result in US citizens having a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip inserted under their skin, The Business has learned.
The RFID capsules would be linked to a computerised database being created by the US Department of Health to store and manage the nation’s health records. It could be the precursor to a similar scheme in the UK.
The president’s budget for 2006 continues to support the use of health information technology by increasing funding to $125m for pilot schemes.
Thompson, now a director of Applied Digital Solutions, the company that makes the chips, intends to publish the proposal in the next 50 days, by which time he plans to have had a VeriChip inserted in his arm. Thompson believes the capsules could help save thousands of lives every year.
I’m glad Tommy is sticking it to himself first on this one. I can see some benefits to this approach, BUT there’s a huge privacy downside.