Wanna know how much power lobbyists have on Congress? Look no further beyond what appears to be the most ever spent on congressional legislation by the time all is said and done: over $375M. In the name of “education” and “awareness” on options for the financing of healthcare sectors, many lobbying factions are comprised of the usual suspects when it comes to influencing the debate on Capitol Hill — representatives of Pharma and Insurance; but what has never been the norm (until now, that is) has been the increasing level of spending at the hands of  advocates from the point of view of the middlemen: hospitals and physician organizations.

Sure, PhRMA represents the lions’ share of monies spent lobbying Congress, but what about the College of American Pathologists (amount given to lawmakers: a cool quarter mil) or the AHA ($7M)? All of this spending leaves one big hole on the influence of political opinion on the healthcare debate, and the group which is in this void is the group that has the most to gain (or lose) from pending reform legislation: the American public. They will be watching President Obama’s words extremely closely tomorrow. | LINK

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