Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pharma, Big Tobacco Opened Up Wallets For Trump's Inauguration
Documents released this week by Mr. Trump鈥檚 inaugural organizers provide a glimpse of the big-dollar frenzy of influence-seeking and peacemaking surrounding Mr. Trump鈥檚 swearing-in, which raised $107 million, twice as much money as any other inauguration. ...聽 While Mr. Trump promised during the campaign to give Medicare and Medicaid the power to negotiate prices they pay for prescription drugs, two of the biggest drugmakers, Pfizer and Amgen, gave a combined $1.5 million in December. (Confessore, Fandos and Shorey, 4/19)
Drugmaker Pfizer gave $1 million to help finance the inauguration, according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission. Amgen, another pharmaceutical company, donated $500,000. Health insurers Anthem, Centene and Aetna all gave six-figure contributions. They joined a surge of corporate donors from multiple industries to break inauguration-finance records even as then-President-elect Donald Trump promised to 鈥渄rain the swamp鈥 of Washington influence-peddling. (Hancock, Lupkin and Lucas, 4/19)
Two law firms with large health care practices also chipped in. Holland & Knight, which lobbies for the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, America鈥檚 Essential Hospitals, and the Biosimilars Forum, among other clients, donated $100,000 and Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo, which has a busy health law group, gave $35,000. (Kaplan, 4/19)
