Lobbyists Played Major Role In Health Overhaul Debate - Kaiser Health News

Lobbyists Played Major Role In Health Overhaul Debate - Kaiser Health News
Jan 31, 2010

The New York Times Prescriptions blog explores how millions of dollars were spent lobbying on health care. Although President Barack Obama has blamed lobbyists for helping to stall the legislative effort, "many of those lobbyists actually worked to support his health care overhaul, not oppose it," the Times finds. "Health care and insurance lobbyists spent more than $648 million in 2009, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks the influence of money on elections and policy. That figure is not final; the center has not been able to process about 20 percent of the year-end lobbying reports. But even the incomplete tally shows that the money spent last year on health care dwarfs the amount spent on any other single issue in a single year."

The biggest spenders were drug companies, with $245 million on lobbying last year. Their trade group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, also spent $26 million for lobbying and another $120 million to $130 million for a television campaign and grass-roots activity, an industry official said.

"The campaign against a health care overhaul was led by the United States Chamber of Commerce, which spent about $144 million on lobbying. ... The chamber spent an additional $50 million on television commercials. Individual insurance companies, as well as their trade group, America's Health Insurance Plans, funneled money to the chamber to help pay for some of the commercials" (Seeley, 1/30).