Health care industry leads state lobbying The health care industry accounted for one-fourth of all lobbyist spending reported in the state Senate during the last two-year legislative session, more than any other category, according to an unofficial tally.
State subsidies of doctors' malpractice insurance rates, which were approved in both years, and proposed caps on pain and suffering awards in malpractice lawsuits, which were rejected, were the top issues for health-care lobbyists, industry officials said.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Health care industry leads state lobbying
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Health care industry leads state lobbying
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Associated Press
HARRISBURG -- The health care industry accounted for one-fourth of all lobbyist spending reported in the state Senate during the last two-year legislative session, more than any other category, according to an unofficial tally.
State subsidies of doctors' malpractice insurance rates, which were approved in both years, and proposed caps on pain and suffering awards in malpractice lawsuits, which were rejected, were the top issues for health-care lobbyists, industry officials said.
In all, lobbyists and their employers reported spending around $200 million, according to an analysis by the Senate Republican staff of disclosure reports filed in the Senate for the two-year session that ended Nov. 30.
It is impossible to gauge other lobbying activity on legislation and regulations, because neither the House of Representatives nor Gov. Ed Rendell has required lobbyists to file similar reports since the state Supreme Court struck down the last disclosure law in 2002. The decision was made on grounds that the law infringed on the court's regulation of lawyers.
Efforts to restore a similar law have failed. Pennsylvania remains the only state in the union without a basic lobbying law, according to The Center for Public Integrity, a Washington-based watchdog group.
Even the Senate's reporting system is imperfect. For example, it leaves room for lobbyists, businesses and groups to decide what expenses to report and how to report them.
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