Lobbying is a tricky game. Everyone in Washington knows this, but don’t worry – the politicians definitely have your best interests at hand. It could be argued right now that the biggest catalyst in healthcare at the moment is the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Supreme Court is said to have made a decision on whether to uphold or strike down ACA but that’s just speculation. Regardless, hospitals have much to gain should the ruling come out in the Obama administration’s favor.
Hedgeye Healthcare Sector Head Thomas Tobin has put out a chart showing just how much lobbying has occurred pre and post-ACA. Here’s how Tobin composed the chart:
“Below we show total lobbying expenditures by HC industry over the last 5 years. We’ve combined Hospitals and Health Professionals (which include the AMA and other Physician groups) as their interests are generally aligned on the larger issues. As can be seen, in combination, Hospitals & Physicians support the largest Lobbying effort with total lobbyists and expenditures averaging some 2K and $190M annually over the last 3 years.”
