Con $1,5 milioni al giorno, la lobby del settore salute supera ampiamente uella di gas e petrolio
● La lobby della salute, produttori di farmaci, ospedali ed altre società, ha continuato anche nel secondo trimestre 2009 gli sforzi per conformare ai propri interessi una legge di riforma basilare, investendo $1,5 milioni al giorno.
● Ha speso $133 mn. da aprile a giugno, con un leggero aumento sul primo trimestre.
● Oltre la metà degli investimenti sono dell’industria farmaceutica, che comprendono il gruppo commerciale Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) e gruppi come Pfizer, Eli Lilly e GlaxoSmithKline – dati della ong Center for Responsive Politics.
o Pziser ha quasi raddoppiato la spesa dal secondo trimestre 2008, a €5,6 mn.;
o aumenti consistenti anche per Blue Cross/Blue Shield, PhRMA, Eli Lilly ed altri. Il gruppo Talecris Biotherapeutics, ha aumentato la sua spesa trimestrale dai $20 000 del2008 a $1,64 mn. quest’anno.
o Il calcolo per il settore salute non comprende la maggior parte delle grandi società di assicurazione (fatte rientrare nella lobby del settore finanziario), che quest’anno hanno investito finora $81 mn.
o Complessivamente l’investimento delle lobby di salute ed assicurazione è oltre i $2 mn. al giorno.
● La lobby petrolio-gas ha investito $38mn. in maggio-giugno per una legge in discussione, un +30% sull’anno precedente; in testa Chevron, ConocoPhillips e American Electric Power.
Le operazioni di lobby complessive sono aumentate di $814 mn. da aprile a giugno, per un totale semestrale di oltre $1,6 MD, per tutti i gruppi industriali e di interesse, una cifra quasi uguale a quella del primo semestre 2008, nonostante la grande quantità di leggi importanti in discussione al Congresso.
At $1.5 Million a Day, Health Sector Lobbying Far Outpaces Oil & Gas
The health sector continued its breakneck lobbying efforts during the 2nd quarter of 2009, spending money at the rate of nearly $1.5 million a day as it attempted to shape landmark reform legislation to its advantage, according to new data released today.
– The Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit group that tracks money in politics, also calculated that the oil and gas industry spent $38 million on lobbying from May to June, as controversial cap-and-trade legislation was under consideration in the House. The number represents a 30 percent increase from the year before, with Chevron, ConocoPhillips and American Electric Power leading the pack.
– But the biggest spenders in Washington were the drugmakers, hospitals and other health-care firms that are fighting to influence reform legislation being pushed by President Obama. The sector as a whole reported spending $133 million on lobbying from April to June, up slightly from its expenditures in the first quarter of the year. More than half the total was spent by the drug industry, including the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America trade group (PhRMA) and firms such as Pfizer, Eli Lilly and GlaxoSmithKline.
– Many firms have increased their lobbying compared to a year ago, in some cases dramatically, the data show. Pfizer nearly doubled its spending from the second quarter 2008, to $5.6 million, while Blue Cross/Blue Shield, PhRMA, Eli Lilly and others were also up significantly. One North Carolina firm, Talecris Biotherapeutics, increased its quarterly spending from just $20,000 last year to $1.64 million this time.
– The health sector calculation does not include most major insurance companies, which have spent $81 million on lobbying so far this year and are counted by CRP as part of the financial sector. That means that added together, the health sector and insurance industry are spending well over $2 million a day on lobbying.
Lobbying in all areas rose to $814 million from April to June, bringing the six-month total to more than $1.6 billion across all industries and interest groups. That total is about the same as it was in the first half of 2008, despite a plethora of major bills moving through Congress.