Sunday, June 28, 2009
Imagine spending $1.4 million every day since the beginning of this year to convince Congress to do right by you. That’s the amount the health industry has averaged with its lobbying expenditures from January to June on Capitol Hill, while lawmakers work on perhaps the most significant reform to date of the medical delivery system in the United States.
According to a new report by the watchdog organization Common Cause, the $1.4 million averages out to about $2,600 for each member of the House and Senate. However, in actuality, health care interests (insurance and pharmaceutical companies, doctors and hospitals) have targeted the bulk of their lobbying on representatives and senators who sit on committees and subcommittees that oversee the industry. Since 2000, these members of Congress have received $178 million in campaign contributions from health care groups, while total spending towards all of Congress has risen 73% during this decade.
Common Cause also found that health care lobbyists know how to be flexible depending on who is in charge of Congress. In 2000, when Republicans controlled the House and Senate, Republicans on health-related committees received more than double what Democrats got (68% vs. 32%). But in 2008, when Democrats were running the show in the House and Senate, over 61% of the industries’ contributions to committee members went to the majority party, while only 39% was delivered to Republicans.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Legislating Under the Influence (Common Cause press release)
Legislating Under the Influence Report (Common Cause) (PDF)
Lobbyists Daschle, Dole Release Health Care Plan; Do Not Note Health Care Clients of Their Law Firm (by Paul Blumenthal, Sunlight Foundation)
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