Healthcare transparency
Where money moves through U.S. healthcare — federal spending (HHS, Medicare, Medicaid), drug spending, lobbying, and congressional trades in health stocks. Coverage-honest: figures we don't have yet show "—"; Medicaid is state-administered and partial. New to the topic? Start with the healthcare primer.
Federal lobbying scoped to the healthcare sector — the clients and firms reporting the most spend on health, Medicare/Medicaid, medical-research and pharmacy issues.
Reported federal lobbying spend · $24,433,326 in 2026 · 330 activity reports across 512 filings
Scoped to health lobbying — filings whose reported activities carry a health issue code (HCR health issues, MMM Medicare/Medicaid, MED medical/disease research, PHA pharmacy). A filing's dollar figure covers all the issues it touches, so client/firm totals include their non-health lobbying in the same filing.
Money is what lobbyists report: income a firm billed its client plus expenses an organization spent lobbying in-house — the standard total-lobbying-spending figure. Issue areas and targets are ranked by filing count, since a filing's dollar figure isn't cleanly divisible across the issues it touches.
Lobbying spend over time
| Yr | Total lobbying spend |
|---|---|
| 2022 | $1,807,269,114 |
| 2023 | $1,674,080,022 |
| 2024 | $1,683,547,162 |
| 2025 | $1,943,264,821 |
| 2026 | $24,433,326 |
Top clients — who's spending
Interests represented, by reported spend
- AMERICAN PROPERTY CASUALTY INSURANCE ASSOCIATION$2,140,000
- BAYER CORPORATION (CONSOLIDATED REPORT)$2,040,000
- MEDTRONIC INC$1,180,000
- AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS$789,257
- NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION$670,000
- THE PROCTER AND GAMBLE COMPANY$661,000
- WALGREEN COMPANY$660,000
- AMERICAN BENEFITS COUNCIL$550,000
- UNITED STEEL PAPER & FORESTRY RUBBER MANUFACTURING ENERGY$540,000
- GRINDR LLCgeosocial networking app$522,500
- ADVOCATE HEALTH (FKA ADVOCATE AURORA HEALTH, INC.)$450,000
- AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CLINICAL PHARMACYProfessional society for clinical pharmacy practitioners, educators, etc$450,000
- COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA$431,000
- AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION$400,000
- ACADEMY OF MANAGED CARE PHARMACYProfessional association representing managed care pharmacy$320,000
Top firms — who's lobbying
Registrant firms & orgs, by reported spend
- AMERICAN PROPERTY CASUALTY INSURANCE ASSOCIATION FKA PROPERTY CASUALTY INSURERS ASSOC. OF AMERICA$2,140,000
- BAYER CORPORATION (CONSOLIDATED REPORT)$2,040,000
- MEDTRONIC, INC.$1,180,000
- AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS$789,257
- NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION$670,000
- THE PROCTER AND GAMBLE COMPANY$661,000
- WALGREEN COMPANY$660,000
- AMERICAN BENEFITS COUNCIL$550,000
- UNITED STEEL, PAPER & FORESTRY, RUBBER, MANUFACTURING, ENERGY$540,000
- GRINDR LLC$522,500
- KELLER PARTNERS & COMPANY$510,000
- CAPITOL ADVOCACY & GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS, LLC$450,000
- ADVOCATE HEALTH (FKA ADVOCATE AURORA HEALTH, INC.)$450,000
- COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA$431,000
- AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION$400,000
Top issue areas
General issue codes, by filings
Most-lobbied targets
Government entities lobbied, by filings
- HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES417 filings
- SENATE410 filings
- Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS)152 filings
- Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)125 filings
- White House Office32 filings
- Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA)27 filings
- Food & Drug Administration (FDA)26 filings
- Defense, Dept of (DOD)24 filings
- Labor, Dept of (DOL)22 filings
- Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)21 filings
- Agriculture, Dept of (USDA)19 filings
- Office of Management & Budget (OMB)18 filings
- Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS)17 filings
- Education, Dept of16 filings
- Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA)16 filings
Revolving door — lobbyists with prior government posts
Lobbyists who disclosed a covered position — a job they previously held in Congress or the executive branch. This is a transparency signal, not an accusation; the prior post is exactly as the filer reported it.
- WILL SCOTTWill A. Scott Legislative Assistant for Representative Thomas Massey.29 filings
- JOHN FRANCIS WILLIAMSPress Secretary, House Committee on Govt Reform and oversight; Press Secretary; Rep. Dan Burton29 filings
- JASON S MCKITRICKAnalyst, House Budget; LA Rep. John Kasich27 filings
- RODNEY WHITLOCKHealth Policy Director, Sen. Chuck Grassley Health Policy Advisor, Senate Finance Committee Legislative Director, Rep. Charlie Norwood; Legislative Assistant, Rep. Charlie Norwood17 filings
- DEBRA CURTISLegislative Director, Chief of Staff, Rep. Pete Stark Professional Staff on Committee on Ways and Means, Health Subcommittee16 filings
- ANDREW QUINNSA, LA - Rep. Hoyer10 filings
- ELIZABETH FOLEYLA - Rep. McCollum9 filings
- BRANDON REALI - Rep. Cuellar9 filings
- MARY MOODY JOHNSONU.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions8 filings
- JOHN R RAYLegislative Assistant, Rep. Mike Kelly7 filings
- KEITH STUDDARDLegislative Director, Rep. Marsha Blackburn7 filings
- BRETT MEEKSDeputy Health Policy Director, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; Deputy Press Secretary, Office of Senator Lamar Alexander7 filings
- LAURA KEMPERCounsel, Sen. John Cornyn; Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Counselor to the Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services7 filings
- JOHN HERZOGHealth Aide, Sen. Lamar Alexander; Special Assistant to the Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs, Executive Office of the President7 filings
- KRISTIN FRITSCHLegislative Assistant, Office of Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers; Senior Legislative Assistant, Office of Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers; Professional Staff Member House Committee on Energy and Commerce7 filings
- WESTON HAYCOCKSA, LA, PS - Sen. Tester6 filings
- JOSH JORGENSEN2017-2020: Senior Legislative Correspondent; Legislative Aide, Sen. Mike Rounds5 filings
- DIANE MAJORSenate Republican Policy Committee5 filings
- ERIK KOMENDANTLegislative Director, Rep. Jason Altmire; Legislative Correspondent/Legislative Assistant, Rep. Zoe Lofgren; Policy Director, Blue Dog Coalition5 filings
- COOPER CHAMBLEEIntern, Sen. Tim Scott5 filings