BOSTON (AP) – Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson wants to set the record straight: Despite some buzz to the contrary, he still is willing to have a radio-frequency chip implanted in his arm.

After leaving President Bush’s cabinet this year, Thompson joined the board of VeriChip Corp., which makes implantable chips that can be wirelessly read by medical personnel. Each chip broadcasts a number tied to a patient’s medical records.

When he joined the company in July, Thompson said he “absolutely” would have a chip put in his arm and had no concerns.

Recently, however, radio-chip opponents Liz McIntyre and Katherine Albrecht determined that Thompson hasn’t actually gotten a chip. McIntyre and Albrecht put out a news release to say a VeriChip spokesman had told them that Thompson was “too busy” and still investigating the technology.

Thompson told The Associated Press this week that he isn’t having second thoughts. He said he wants to wait until VeriChip signs up enough hospitals to use the technology.

“I’m going to get a chip as soon as the hospitals that I do business with get the technology in,” he said. “I just want to make sure it’s going to do me some good if something happens to me.”

He could have a long wait. Just two hospitals have scanners for reading VeriChips, both in New Jersey, according to company spokesman John Procter. Two thousand people worldwide have been tagged, including 60 in the United States, Procter said.

When asked why he didn’t get a chip now to set an example that might help kick-start a scanning system, Thompson said he felt confident VeriChip was making progress. When the time comes, he’ll be eager to get chipped, he said.

“In fact,” he said, “I’ll be in the front of the line.”

-Brian Bergstein, AP Technology Writer.