Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Buying Good (?) Health (Insurance)

Mikaela says:
So a little tidbit on the radio got me to thinking about how little we're hearing about who's most in the pockets of the health care industry. We hear a lot about this congressperson or that congressperson being for or against the bill and a lot about Republicans want this versus Democrats want that, but how does that map to the money?

Bad news: I haven't found much that directly answers that question.
Good news: There is some info out there.
Good news & bad news: I've barely scratched the surface.

Here's a quick snapshot of what I could scrape together in a fairly short amount of time.


Source: http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?showYear=2009&indexType=c




Top Industries Giving to Members of Congress, 2010 Cycle

Industry


% Received
Rank
(of 50)
IndustryTotal ContributionsDemsRepubsTop Individual Recipient
2Health Professionals $13,611,257 63%37%Harry Reid (D-Nev)
6Insurance $8,405,172 58%42%Charles E Schumer (D-NY)
10Pharm/Health Prod $5,434,796 61%39%Richard Burr (R-NC)
19Hospitals/Nurs Homes $3,872,639 74%26%Charles E Schumer (D-NY)
37Health Services $2,249,688 69%31%Charles E Schumer (D-NY)


Industry No. of Lobbyists
Health Professionals 781
Health Services/HMOs 988
Hospitals/Nursing Homes 1,172
Misc Health 165
Pharmaceuticals/Health Products 1,659





Senate Finance Committee Members Receiving the Most Contributions from Top 25 Healthcare Industry Orgs. 2007-2009

Recipient From Clients From Lobbyists Overall Total
John McCain (R-Ariz.) $427,530 $473,400 $900,930
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) $276,050 $237,722 $513,772
Max Baucus (D-Mont.) $252,750 $200,899 $453,649
Arlen Specter (D-Penn.) $116,750 $108,778 $225,528
Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) $56,950 $130,808 $187,758
Mark Udall (D-Colo.) $76,025 $79,150 $155,175
Mark Warner (D-Va.) $46,650 $84,450 $131,100
Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) $47,200 $83,420 $130,620
Mary Landrieu (D-La.) $35,800 $67,000 $102,800
Patty Murray (D-Wa.) $32,800 $59,500 $92,300
Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) $22,500 $55,950 $78,450
Susan Collins (R-Maine) $28,300 $40,916 $69,216


Here's another great article that breaks down individual recipients. It also provides a link to download two awesome pivot tables in Excel here, one for the health insurance companies and one for big pharma: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/patients/articles/?storyId=28527

Happy hunting!