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Comment by jonas21

2 hours ago

Many of the groups that spend the most on lobbying are composed of "normal" people who have banded together for some common interest. For example:

- The AARP ($21M annual spend) has 38M members

- The National Association of Realtors ($54M annual spend) has 1.5M members

- The American Medical Association ($24M annual spend) has 300K members

Of course that doesn't mean that their interests necessarily align with your interests.

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jonas21

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programmertote  13 minutes ago

It really irks me for some reason that American Medical Association (one of the top spenders in lobbying) is doing the lobbying. I did a quick Gemini/Google search and these are the topics they lobby for.

``` Core Legislative PrioritiesMedicare Reform:

Fighting to fix stagnant physician payment formulas and account for inflation.

Prior Authorization: Pushing to reduce administrative roadblocks and delays enforced by insurance companies.

Scope of Practice: Opposing laws that expand independent clinical roles for non-physicians like nurse practitioners and pharmacists.

Burnout Reduction: Supporting federal and organizational relief to help doctors manage workplace stress and administrative tasks.

-- Public Health and Science

Public Health Crises: Supporting science-based policies on vaccinations, gun violence prevention, and chronic disease reduction.

Digital Health: Guiding regulations for artificial intelligence and telehealth integration in medical practices ```

Most of these are about keeping the gate (i.e., doctor's compensation high). The US doctors are the highest paid in the world (among developed countries like UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, etc.) by a long shot. Kind of mad if you think about it.

Disclaimer: My spouse is a specialist doctor. You can say I have selfish interest in keeping doctor's salaries high in the US. But I can't help highlighting that doctor's guilds (like AMA) are part of the reasons why the healthcare expenses are so high in the US.