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Pharma isn't the only one breaking the bank on lobbying, as other members of the health industry increase their lobbying budgets by millions.
By the numbers: Most of the industry's big players swelled their lobbying budgets by at least 10% in the second quarter of this year, compared with the same period in 2018.
- PhRMA: $6.22 million (up 12.3%)
- American Hospital Association: $4.87 million (up 13.5%)
- American Medical Association: $4.74 million (up 10.2%)
- Biotechnology Innovation Organization: $3.01 million (up 19.4%)
- America’s Health Insurance Plans: $2.21 million (up 56.7%)
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Association: $1.89 million (up 0.5%)
That’s not all: Those are just the major trade groups.
- A handful of the largest health care companies, including Cigna and Eli Lilly, spent more than $2 million on their own lobbying in Q2.
- Pharmaceutical companies, in particular, continue to wield some of the largest lobbying budgets.
- Advocate Aurora Health, a tax-exempt hospital system in Illinois and Wisconsin, spent more than $1 million on lobbying last quarter — 5 times more than in any previous quarter.
What's next: These numbers will probably keep going up.