A collection of prominent healthcare interests were among the donors to President Donald Trump’s inaugural fund.
Companies spanning many industries donated to Trump’s fund, hoping to soften or improve relationships and advance organizational priorities in the new administration.
In healthcare, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Johnson & Johnson and Bayer all donated $1 million. Abbott Laboratories donated $500,000. The National Association of Manufacturers, which also represents pharmaceutical interests, donated $1 million. So did Amazon, with its executive chairman and founder Jeff Bezos attending the indoor inauguration in person.
Others in healthcare donated to the fund, albeit to a lesser degree. HCA Healthcare, the country's largest for-profit hospital chain, gifted $250,000 to the cause. Insurers Elevance Health and Centene donated $150,000 and $50,000, respectively. Elevance and Centene did not respond to a request for comment.
Elevance Health stock experienced a modest gain immediately following Trump’s reelection, while Centene saw a small dip. Since the election, Centene’s stock price is largely the same, but Elevance’s performance is slightly lower.
It’s expected Trump will be good for the Medicare Advantage businesses. Companies deeply tied to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act are more worried, but it remains to be seen whether the rumors of cuts to the programs will ultimately be overblown. Centene is likely hoping Trump will remain receptive to individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements, a policy he supported during his first term.
Health plans lobbied lawmakers. Here’s what we noticed.
The latest filing deadlines requiring companies to disclose donations to election campaigns has passed.
Insurers largely chose to donate to lawmakers on influential federal committees, but some plans targeted elected officials at the local level. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers accepted donations, though some elected officials were noticeably more popular than others. Many elected officials received donations from numerous insurers. Sometimes health plans donated to leadership PACs, where elected officials raise money for other members in tough races.
Fierce Healthcare analyzed health plan donations from July 1 to Dec. 31. to major political action committees and congresspeople on the Senate Finance, HELP and Appropriations committees as well as health subcommittees on the House Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means and Appropriations committees.
Elevance Health donated more than $1 million toward election fights, the most of any health plan. The company sent $25,000 to the political action campaign of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, Grow the Majority. These funds go toward incumbents and challengers in critical districts.
The company gave $15,000 to Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, sitting on the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care.
UnitedHealth Group contributed $373,000 to Republicans and Democratic lawmakers. Leading the way is $10,000 to House E&C ranking member Frank Pallone, D-New Jersey. The company also gave $7,500 to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and $5,000 to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York.
On the other side of the aisle, UHG gifted $5,000 to the House Republican Campaign Committee and a group of members such as E&C chair Brett Guthrie, R-Kentucky, and Senate finance health subcommittee chair Todd Young, R-Indiana.
Molina Healthcare ranked third over this time period, donating $357,000. It focused more on local races but did give $5,000 to Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and $2,500 to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon.
In addition to the $50,000 Trump inaugural fund contribution, Centene gave $10,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee and $5,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association donated $18,250 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and $9,000 to Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, who is sitting on the finance committee.
One of the most popular donor recipients was Sen. Bill Cassidy, M.D., R-Louisiana, pulling in $14,500 from six insurers including Cigna, CVS Health and Humana. He sits on the finance committee and is chair of the HELP committee. Cassidy has been a pivotal vote in determining whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will earn Senate approval and assume the title of Department of Health and Human Services secretary.
Blue Cross company Health Care Service Corporation donated $15,500 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and $5,000 to Ways and Means Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Oklahoma. Hern was another frequent recipient, pulling in cash from eHealth, the PBM trade group Pharmaceutical Care Management Association and others.
FEC disclosures
Some in and around healthcare donated to MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, filings with the Federal Election Commission show.
Super PACs are able to raise unlimited amounts of money from individuals, corporations and everything in between. Coordination is not technically allowed between a candidate and a super PAC, and super PACs must disclose their donors.
“While super PACs are legally required to disclose their donors, some of these groups are effectively dark money outlets when the bulk of their funding cannot be traced back to the original donor,” explains money tracker group OpenSecrets.
VillageMD co-founder and Chief Medical Officer Clive Fields, M.D., donated $1 million to MAGA Inc. So did Todd Boehly, co-founder and CEO of Eldridge Industries, a holding company invested in Kindbody, a national network of fertility clinics.
Healthcare entrepreneur Benjamin Leon Jr. also donated $1 million to the super PAC. He is nominated by Trump as ambassador to Spain.
Others Trump-supporting billionaires donated vast sums of money to MAGA Inc., including Howard Lutnick and Timothy Mellon.