Healthcare industry top spender on federal lobbying in '07

It's good to get attention from federal legislators, but it's going to cost you. That's no mystery to some key healthcare groups, who collectively spent $445 million on federal lobbying during 2007, according to new research from the Center for Responsive Politics. That's more than any other sector of the economy, and tops on the list for the second year in a row, according to the CRP. This number includes 20 industry subsectors, including pharmaceutical and medical products companies ($227 million), health insurance companies ($138 million), hospitals and nursing homes ($91 million) and health professionals ($70 million.) Among those who follow lobbying, it will come as no surprise that leading spenders included the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America ($22.1 million) and the American Medical Association (another $22.1 million).

To learn more about CRP's research on lobbying:
- read this Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report item [1]

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Healthcare industry leads in campaign contributions [4]
Providers dished out the lobbying bucks [5]