Top health groups increased political spending in 2009

USA Today: "Pharmacists, optometrists and groups representing an array of medical specialists boosted their political giving in 2009, as Congress worked on health care legislation that would dramatically reshape their industry. ... Donations by the top 15 health care political action committees rose to $11.7 million in 2009, a nearly 14% increase from 2007, the most recent non-election year, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data compiled by CQ MoneyLine."

The National Community Pharmacists Association had the largest increase. "The 13,000-member group worked successfully to insert favorable provisions in health bills that passed the House of Representatives and Senate last year, including a measure to roll back cuts in government reimbursements for generic drugs." The American Dental PAC donated "the most of any health-related PAC."  USA Today has a chart detailing the 2007 and 2009 political contributions of the top 15 health care political action committees (Schouten, 2/17).

---

This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.