2009 was quite a year with the health care reform debacle and the Swine flu fiasco taking up so much of the public discussion on health care. As we sink deeper into 2010, Swine flu seems to be an after thought now and Obama vows he’s not done with health care. We’ll see…

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, health care and insurance company lobbyists spent more than $648 million in 2009. A spokesman for the Center stated that the money spent last year on health care dwarfs the amount spent on any other single issue in a single year. In fact, he said, it was the most money ever spent by a business sector for federal lobbying.

Drug companies spent more than $245 million on lobbying last year alone with Pfizer contributing $22 million. $245 million is more than the combined budgets of all chiropractic institutions in the United States.  The money spent by drug companies was more than any other single industry has ever spent on lobbying on behalf of any issue. One report stated this was $90 million more than the oil and gas industry spent on lobbying last year.

In addition to this $648 million another $210 million was spent on television advertising, according to Campaign Media Analysis Group. This amount also set a record for money spent on a single issue in a single calendar year.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America spent $26 million on lobbying and another $130 million for a television campaign and the American Hospital Association spent $16.3 million on lobbying.

The United States Chamber of Commerce spent $144 million on lobbying and an additional $50 million on commercials.

Just to put this all in perspective, the chiropractic profession spent a whopping $525,000.00 on lobbying in 2009. Yes siree - half a million bucks. Here’s a breakdown of who spent what:

• American Chiropractic Association – $365,000.00
• Association of Chiropractic Colleges – $80,000.00
• Logan College of Chiropractic – $40,000.00
• Texas Chiropractic College– $40,000.00

The David and Goliath story of chiropractic versus the medical pharmaceutical industrial complex was true 100 years ago and it’s still true today. Though the spirit of the profession seems crushed and we’ve gone from a movement to a bunch of old white guys making sure their golden years remain – well, golden. All the while the profession as a whole remains stuck in the lower levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs just trying to survive.

It would be nice to know what this half a million was spent on so we could see what the priorities of the profession really are but given the fact that a “United Profession” put forth the document The Path to Change in the US HealthCare System: The Chiropractic Perspective. A Joint Policy Statement on Healthcare Reform Presented by a United Chiropractic Profession as our two cents in the health care reform debate, its pretty clear where the cartel is taking us. For more on this see:  Please Sir, I Want Some More. 
   

As always I look forward to your feedback, comments and suggestions.

Matthew McCoy DC, MPH

matthewmccoy@comcast.net

Editor – Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health – Chiropractic

http://www.chiropracticpediatricresearch.net