Hospitals, coal miners and clinical labs are among the special interests that have won exemptions from taxes and other cost-cutting measures in a health care plan crafted by the Senate Finance Committee.
The landmark legislation, which could face a committee vote this week, comes after months of negotiations over how to provide coverage to millions of uninsured Americans.
It also has faced intense scrutiny from groups that would be affected by its changes. The health care industry has spent more than $263 million to lobby Congress during the first six months of this year — more than any other sector, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.
"The health care lobbying interests are cutting deals ... on whatever affects their fiefdom," said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a non-partisan watchdog group.
Erin Shields, a spokeswoman for committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said the bill is crafted for families, small businesses and seniors. "Every decision Sen. Baucus makes about this bill, he makes for them — no matter what any industry or any special interest wants," she said.
Still, hospitals secured a 10-year exemption from cost-cutting recommendations that would be made by an independent federal commission charged with controlling spending in the government's Medicare program.
Richard Coorsh of the Federation of American Hospitals said the group reached agreement with the Obama administration to forgo $155 billion in government reimbursements over a decade to help pay for the plan. "This reflects that the Senate Finance Committee and the White House understand the degree of that sacrifice," he said.
The hospital pact, however, has drawn the ire of doctors' groups, who would be subject to commission recommendations. Michael Maves, CEO of the American Medical Association, called the provision a "serious inequity" in a letter to Baucus last month.
