Drugmakers, hospitals, and health insurers have pumped record sums of funds into lobbying activities in Washington last year as the government continued its efforts to lower healthcare expenditure in the U.S., Politico reported last week.
According to newly released lobbying disclosures, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the leading pharmaceutical lobby group in the U.S., spent nearly $38M on lobbying last year, up 22% from 2024, marking its highest ever annual total.
The influential trade group counts major drugmakers including Pfizer (PFE), Amgen (AMGN), Bristol Myers (BMY), J&J (JNJ), and Merck (MRK) among its members.
Individual companies have also intensified their lobbying efforts, with nine of the 13 U.S. drugmakers on the Fortune 500, including Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), Eli Lilly (LLY), J&J (JNJ), Merck (MRK), and Zoetis (ZTS), reporting their highest expenditure in at least a decade. Specifically, Bristol-Myers (BMY) has spent $10M on lobbying efforts, marking a 91% YoY rise, its highest annual increase on record.
Meanwhile, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), which represents health insurers, and the American Hospital Association (AHA), a trade group of thousands of hospitals and healthcare systems across the U.S., spent record sums on lobbying last year.
AHIP spent nearly $17.2M on K Street last year, while AHA spent $25.5M, according to Politico. AHIP members include Humana (HUM), CVS Health (CVS), Cigna (CI), Clover Health (CLOV), Alignment Healthcare (ALHC), Centene (CNC), Molina Healthcare (MOH), Elevance Health (ELV), and Oscar Health (OSCR). UnitedHealth (UNH), the largest health insurer in the U.S., is not a member of AHIP.
AHA represents nearly 5,000 healthcare providers, including the nation’s largest, HCA Healthcare (HCA). Listed hospital networks: Community Health Systems (CYH), Surgery Partners (SGRY), Tenet Healthcare (THC), SunLink Health Systems (SHY), Universal Health Services (UHS), Select Medical Holdings (SEM), Acadia Healthcare (ACHC), and LifeStance Health Group (LFST).
The report comes at a time when the Trump administration continues its focus on healthcare expenditure in an attempt to improve its standing on the affordability front. In November, President Donald Trump sought to bypass what he called “BIG, BAD” and “money-sucking” insurers as his government moved to end enhanced tax credits introduced during the pandemic for those purchasing health plans through Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges.
Additionally, the White House has reached drug pricing deals with 16 drugmakers so far and extended Medicare drug price negotiations introduced under the Biden administration.