WASHINGTON — Health care groups and their lobbyists spent big in the last few months of 2022 amid heated debates about how much to pay hospitals, how much to pay for pricey medicines and how best to regulate tests.
The spending frenzy, instigated in large part by sweeping policy changes and payment reforms passed late last year, is likely to stall in a split Congress, where at least in early days, Democrats and Republicans haven’t telegraphed agreement on any health care issues.
The American Hospital Association surged ahead of other industry groups, spending nearly $7 million in the last quarter as Congress and federal agencies hammered out payment cuts for sweeping federal programs like Medicare and negotiated a deal to let states oust people from Medicaid rolls starting in April. The group spent a total $22.3 million on lobbying in 2022, up from the $20 million it spent the year before.
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