Public Citizen reports on influence of drug companies and HMOs on Medicare legislation
Reveals need for more exposure on Medicare issue
Summer 2004
A recent report from Public Citizen, a national, non-profit consumer advocacy organization working to protect health, safety and Democracy, underscores the need to get our Medicare messages out to the public.
According to the findings:
An army of nearly 1,000 Washington drug companies, HMOs and their trade association lobbyists continue their campaign to block action on replacing the Bush Medicare law that puts profits ahead of workers, patients and taxpayers.
- In 2003, the drug industry spent a record $108.6 million on federal lobbying activities.
- The drug industry, alone, hired 824 individual lobbyists in 2003 – more than eight lobbyists for each member of the U.S. Senate.
- Managed care companies that lobbied on the Medicare bill spent $32.3 million on Federal lobbying in 2003.
- HMOs and health plans hired 222 lobbyists to lobby on the Medicare bill last years - 42 percent of whom also represented the drug industry.
- In all, 431 lobbyists working for the drug industry or HMOs (or 45% of all their lobbyists) have spun through Washington's "political revolving door" between "K" Street and the government, leaving their federal government jobs for lucrative lobbying positions.
- Among those lobbyists were 30 former U.S. senators and House representatives – 18 Republicans and 12 Democrats.
To access copies of the Public Citizen report one can go to www.citizen.org.
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To access copies of the Public Citizen report one can go to www.citizen.org.
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