Health Care Battle: Lobbyists Outnumber Lawmakers

Aug. 14, 2009— -- It's clear at town halls around the country: An awful lot of people are invested in the fight for health care reform. But the time, money and manpower that lobbying firms devote to courting lawmakers reveals an investment inside the Beltway of staggering proportions.

For every lawmaker in Congress, there are about six lobbyists pushing their health care priorities, according to a Bloomberg News investigation released today. That's about 3,300 registered health care lobbyists working Capitol Hill, hoping to put a bug in the ear of 100 senators and 435 congressmen.

Bloomberg also examined new lobbyist registrations since July 1 and found that, on average, three lobbying organizations per day, many headquartered on Washington, D.C.'s K Street corridor, are lining up to lobby Congress on health reform.

"I don't have a single client who has hired me to kill health care reform," John Jonas, a partner with lobbying firm Patton Boggs LLP, a firm representing 33 health care clients, told Bloomberg. "Quite the opposite, they assume health care reform is going to happen and they want to be protected."

"You're not going to get health care legislation without involving the hospitals, without involving those that provide medications, without talking to groups that represent doctors or patients or seniors, nurses, what have you," said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.

A total of $263 million has been spent on health lobbying in 2009, according to the latest data from the Center for Responsive Politics. That's more money spent on health than any other sector this year.

The list of the top 20 spenders in 2009 across all sectors includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at No. 1, spending more than $26 million, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) at No. 3, spending $13 million, and Pfizer in the No. 6 spot, spending $11 million. Also joining the ranks of the top 20 spenders this year are Blue Cross Blue Shield, AARP, American Hospital Association, American Medical Association and Eli Lilly, each having doled out between $7 and $10 million this year.

"Whenever you have a big piece of legislation like this, it's like ringing the dinner bell for K Street," Bill Allison, senior fellow at the Sunlight Foundation, told Bloomberg.

Visit ABC News' special section on health care.