A 10-year comparative analysis of medical and surgical specialty lobbying by physician professional organizations

TL;DR

This study analyzed 10 years of lobbying spending by physician organizations and found a significant decline in their investments, especially when adjusted for inflation.

Contribution

The paper provides the first 10-year comparative analysis of lobbying trends by medical and surgical specialty organizations in the U.S.

Findings

Median annual lobbying spending by PPOs was $71 million, with a significant downward trend over the study period.

Medical PPOs spent the most (45% of total), followed by overlapping PPOs (39%), and surgical PPOs (16%).

The median lobbying spending per physician was $78 annually.

Abstract

Physician professional organizations (PPOs) engage in lobbying to advocate for their interests and influence health policy. However, trends in lobbying across specialties are not well characterized. Disproportionate spending across PPOs may affect the ability to shape healthcare legislation and ensure that all physician voices are represented.

We analyzed publicly available lobbying data from OpenSecrets.org covering 2014-2023, adjusted to 2023 USD. A total of 109 PPOs were included. Physician professional organizations were categorized as medical (n = 68), surgical (n = 29), or overlapping (n = 12), based on whether they primarily represented medical specialties, surgical specialties, or both. Physician workforce data from the AAMC were used to calculate spending per-physician. Temporal trends were assessed using a Mann-Kendall test.

Median annual PPO lobbying spending was $71 million, with a significant downward trend (P < .01, tau = −.64). Expenditures included $32 million (45%) by medical PPOs, $12 million (16%) by surgical PPOs, and $27 million (39%) by overlapping PPOs. The median annual lobbying spending per-physician was $78.

These findings suggest that PPOs have not sustained lobbying investments over time, particularly when accounting for the effects of inflation.

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