The study, published Oct. 28, used data from OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan site tracking money in politics, and examined healthcare lobbying costs from 2000 to 2020.
Lobbying expenditures grew 70 percent from 2000 to 2020 when adjusted for inflation, the study found. In 2020, pharmaceutical and health product manufacturers spent the most on lobbying with $308.4 million spent, followed by providers at $286.9 million.
Lobbying among payers was highly concentrated, with the top 10 percent of companies accounting for 70 percent of expenditures.
The authors, affiliated with New York City-based Weill Cornell Medicine and Philadelphia-based University of Pennsylvania, wrote that lobbying expenditures increased more sharply in the early 2000s, driven by lobbying efforts targeting the Affordable Care Act.
Read the full study here.
