Health care lobbying in the United States

To assess the relative political influence of different organizations, we examined the efforts of health care organizations to influence policy decisions by lobbying lawmakers. We reviewed reports filed by lobbyists from 1997 to 2000, as required by the Lobbying Disclosure Act, to characterize health care lobbying at the federal level in the United States. Health care lobbying expenditures totaled $237 million in 2000. These expenditures accounted for 15% of all federal lobbying and were larger than the lobbying expenditures of every other sector, including agriculture, communications, and defense. A total of 1192 organizations were involved in health care lobbying. Pharmaceutical and health product companies spent the most ($96 million), followed by physicians and other health professionals ($46 million). Disease advocacy and public health organizations spent $12 million. From 1997 to 2000, lobbying expenditures by physicians and other health professionals grew more slowly than lobbying by other organizations (10% vs. 26%). Although policy decisions are influenced by many factors, our findings may indicate a limited political influence of disease advocacy and public health organizations and a declining political influence of physicians and other health professionals.