The New York Times takes a look at how two of the savviest lobbyists in Washington -- Karen Ignagni and Billy Tauzin -- are shaping health care in Congress.
"There are very different industry dynamics here," said Representative Jim Cooper, Democrat of Tennessee, who teaches health policy at Vanderbilt University. "The basic deal for these two industries, and others, is that they promised to behave if they get 40 million new customers. But now they are seeing they might not get as many new customers, and they are wondering if they still have to behave."
Both have landed considerable deals for the industries they represent -- Tauzin, who heads the drug lobbying group Pharmaceutical Research Manufacturers of America -- cut an $80 billion, 10-year plan for his industry to help pay for reform. Ignangi, who's at the helm of America's Health Insurance Plans, has sparred with the White House for reneging on her industry's promised support for the overhaul.
"We were assured: 'We need somebody to come in first. If you come in first, you will have a rock-solid deal,' " Billy Tauzin, the former Republican House member from Louisiana who now leads the pharmaceutical trade group, said Wednesday. "Who is ever going to go into a deal with the White House again if they don't keep their word? You are just going to duke it out instead."
The affable Tauzin and more reserved Ignangi make an unlikely lobbying duo -- in the past their respective industries have blamed each other for high prices and minimal coverage. The Times reports the two have a "trust-but-verify relationship."
"While so many in this town have been playing checkers, Karen has been playing chess," said Mark Merritt, a veteran lobbyist who heads the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association.
Under Tauzin, PhRMA is poised to exceed its 2008 lobbying budget of $20 million. The group poured $7 million into its efforts to shape legislation in the third quarter, according to disclosure records. Ignagni's AHIP, meanwhile, shelled out $2.4 million on lobbying in the third quarter.