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Health Care Industry Spends Almost 94 Times the Amount Trials Lawyers Spend Lobbying
In a heated debate such as caps on damages and other tort reform measures, it makes sense that the side with more money is going to win. Just like every other issue at both the state and the national levels, interest groups are able to spend money lobbying for their position with lawmakers. In addition to campaign contributions to elected officials and candidates, companies, labor unions, and other organizations spend billions of dollars each year to lobby Congress and federal agencies as well as state lawmakers and agencies. Some special interests retain lobbying firms while others have lobbyists working in-house.
In the year 2016 alone, $3.12 billion was spent on lobbying at the federal level. That includes everything. In the news lately have been many proposed federal medical malpractice measures the Republicans are pushing for. In the battle over malpractice suites, plaintiff’s lawyers and the medical industry have long accused one another of being more powerful, but in pure lobbying expenditures, the health care industry wins out. Last year, health care companies and related interests spent $563 million on lobbying, while the trial lawyers spent $6 million. That is nearly 94 times the amount spent by trial lawyers.