Healthcare lobbying and oncology.

5 Background: The healthcare industry spends more on lobbying than any other industry, with over $700 million spent in 2022. However, healthcare lobbying related specifically to cancer has not been characterized. In the current study, we analyze both overall health sector lobbying spending and oncology-related lobbying spending across both provider and patient organizations. Methods: We obtained lobbying data from OpenSecrets.org and the Federal Election Commission website. We categorized overall health sector lobbying spending as (1) Pharmaceuticals/Health Products, (2) Health Services/HMOs, (3) Hospitals/Nursing Homes, or (4) Health Professionals. We identified and categorized oncology-related lobbying organizations: (1) Oncology Physician Professional Organizations (OPOs, e.g., ASCO); (2) PPS-Exempt Cancer Hospitals; (3) Patient Advocacy Organizations; and (4) Provider Networks (e.g., US Oncology Network). We analyzed temporal trends in lobbying spending, in both overall dollar value (inflation-adjusted 2023 dollars) and in per-physician spending (using AAMC data for number of hematologists/oncologists). Significance was analyzed using a Mann-Kendall Trend Test. Results: Of ov