Health Care Battle: Lobbyists Outnumber Lawmakers

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Health Care Battle: Lobbyists Outnumber Lawmakers

Bloomberg News Investigation Finds Three New Health Lobbyists

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By KATE BARRETT

Aug. 14, 2009

It's clear at town halls around the country: An awful lot of

people are invested in the fight for health care reform. But

the time, money and manpower that lobbying firms devote to

courting lawmakers reveals an investment inside the Beltway of

staggering proportions.

For every lawmaker in Congress, there are about six lobbyists

pushing their health care priorities, according to a Bloomberg

News investigation released today. That's about 3,300

registered health care lobbyists working Capitol Hill, hoping

to put a bug in the ear of 100 senators and 435 congressmen.

Bloomberg also examined new lobbyist registrations since July

1 and found that, on average, three lobbying organizations per

day, many headquartered on Washington, D.C.'s K Street

corridor, are lining up to lobby Congress on health reform.

" I don't have a single client who has hired me to kill health

care reform, " Jonas, a partner with lobbying firm Patton

Boggs LLP, a firm representing 33 health care clients, told

Bloomberg. " Quite the opposite, they assume health care reform

is going to happen and they want to be protected. "

" You're not going to get health care legislation without

involving the hospitals, without involving those that provide

medications, without talking to groups that represent doctors

or patients or seniors, nurses, what have you, " said White

House press secretary Gibbs.

Spending on Health Lobbying Tops List of All Sectors

A total of $263 million has been spent on health lobbying in

2009, according to the latest data from the Center for

Responsive Politics. That's more money spent on health than

any other sector this year.

The list of the top 20 spenders in 2009 across all sectors

includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at No. 1, spending more

than $26 million, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of

America (PhRMA) at No. 3, spending $13 million, and Pfizer in

the No. 6 spot, spending $11 million. Also joining the ranks

of the top 20 spenders this year are Blue Cross Blue Shield,

AARP, American Hospital Association, American Medical

Association and Eli Lilly, each having doled out between $7

and $10 million this year.

Entire article here,

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/HealthCare/story?id=8322683 & page=1

On 8/18/09, Sharon wrote:

> " ...there will be no effective alternative for consumers in

> the market for health coverage, which means no competitive

> pressure for private insurers to rein in premiums and other

> charges. (Forget about the nonprofit cooperatives. That's

> like sending peewee footballers up against the Super Bowl

> champs.) "

>