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What the next president of the United States does or does not advocate with regard to expanding coverage for the uninsured and reducing the costs of care may affect the health care system for years. Between January and June 2007 — the latter being about 16 months before the election — the presidential candidates raised more than $265 million. This represents the fastest start to presidential fund-raising ever, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (www.opensecrets.org), a nonpartisan group that researches money in politics. The eventual Democratic and Republican nominees could each ultimately raise $500 million or more — record amounts. So far, however, only a small percentage of the contributions — albeit millions of dollars — has come from people who are affiliated with the health sector or from political action committees (PACs) associated with the health sector.
Under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, the contribution limit for an individual is $2,300 per candidate per election; primary and general elections are considered separate elections. The Center for Responsive Politics analyzes campaign finance data reported to the Federal Election Commission and classifies contributions of $200 or more from individual donors or PACs into 13 sectors; the health sector includes doctors, drug companies, and hospitals, among other groups. For the first half of 2007, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, senator from New York and the leading fund-raiser, collected $63.1 million, of which $1.7 million, or 2.7%, was from the health sector (see table). Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, the second-leading fund-raiser among the Democratic candidates, collected $58.9 million; $1.2 million, or 2.1%, was from the health sector. Republican candidate Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts and the leading Republican fund-raiser, collected $44.4 million, including $1.4 million, or 3.1%, from the health sector. Rudolph Giuliani, the second-leading fund-raiser among the Republican candidates and the former mayor of New York City, raised $35.6 million, including nearly $900,000, or 2.5%, from the health sector. Republican candidate Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin, who was the secretary of health and human services from 2001 to 2005, received the highest percentage of funds from the health sector — 6.1% — but he raised less than $900,000 overall.
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In the health care domain, Clinton and Romney are the best-known presidential candidates. As first lady in the 1990s, Clinton tried and failed to expand the federal role in health care, alienating drug companies, health insurers, and others in the health care industry with her proposals for universal health care and cost control. Subsequently, however, she has moderated many of her positions. Since she has been serving in the Senate, pharmaceutical companies and insurers have come to view her more favorably, and she has received more contributions from them.4 In her 2006 Senate reelection campaign, Clinton raised $51.6 million — more than any other Senate candidate — including $1.6 million from the health sector. Among Senate candidates, she ranked first in terms of contributions from doctors and other health care professionals, second in contributions from hospitals and nursing homes, fourth in contributions from the insurance industry, and 20th in contributions from the drug industry. Former Governor Romney, for his part, last year signed far-reaching legislation for Massachusetts health care reform, which is considered a major accomplishment.
Traditionally, the financial sector — banks, insurance companies, and the real estate industry — has been the largest source of funds for presidential and congressional races, followed by lawyers and lobbyists and then ideological and single-issue groups, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The financial sector contributed $338.9 million to federal candidates in the 2004 election cycle (which included the presidential election) and $251.8 million in the 2006 cycle (which was just congressional). In both cycles, the health sector ranked sixth among the 13 sectors. Health sector contributions — $123.9 million in the 2004 cycle and $98.6 million in the 2006 cycle — accounted for about 7% of all donations. The majority of health sector contributions were from individuals (see Figure 1); doctors and other health care professionals contributed the most. In the 2004 and 2006 cycles, more than three fifths of the health sector funds went to Republicans. This contrasts with the beginning of the 2008 cycle, during which the fund-raising advantage went to the Democrats.
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Source Information
Dr. Steinbrook (rsteinbrook{at}attglobal.net) is a national correspondent for the Journal.
References
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