The Story:
Two professors at Brigham Young University have studied recent lobbying expenditures and have found that in the first quarter of 2020, thirty healthcare organizations, including 16 that represent the pharmaceutical industry, spent almost $100 million in lobbying activities, a jump of 55% over what they had spent in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Significance:
“Lobbying” is a form of advocacy aimed directly at the government, especially as directed at legislators or regulatory officials. It shouldn’t be assumed to be a bad thing: every industry lobbies in Washington, and in state capitals, as do labor unions, groups concerned with consumer and environmental issues, and so forth.
The vast for-profit industry devoted to lobbying, though, has become an object of critique and even ridicule: it is a big part of what populist politicians, including the current President, mean when they speak of a “swamp” around Washington that requires draining.
In Pill Form:
Lobbying for the health sector in general now represents one fourth of all lobbying, across all industries. Why? One of the authors of the new study put it thus way:”Congress is giving out a lot of money, so the lobbyists are swarming. Lobbying activity levels are typically fairly stable, so when you see jumps like this, it’s a big deal.”
