Drugmakers Switch Gears This Year With Big Bankroll For Democrats
Pharmaceutical companies have contributed heavily to candidates, with 63 percent of their donations going to Democrats, Stat reports. And in other election-related news, KHN explains the "Medicare-for-all" buzz. Plus, how anti-vaccine supporters are backing candidates and a look at where the Georgia gubernatorial candidates stand on health issues.
Stat:
As Election Day Nears, Pharma Spends More Heavily On Democrats
In the final weeks before Tuesday’s midterm elections, the pharmaceutical industry’s campaign donations have begun flowing heavily and unexpectedly in a new direction: toward Democrats. The party received a full 63 percent of the industry’s campaign contributions reported in the first half of October, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. That’s a new trend to cap off a tumultuous election cycle: Up to this point, just over half of drug industry money has flowed toward Republicans, and the GOP has received substantially more campaign cash from the pharmaceutical and health products industry in the past decade. (Facher, 11/6)
Kaiser Health News:
Beyond The Buzz: What Do Americans Mean By ‘Medicare-For-All’?
KHN's news analysis on "Medicare-for-all" sparks a broader conversation ahead of the midterm elections. (11/6)
Wired:
How Antivax PACs Helped Shape Midterm Ballots
In other hotbeds of anti-vaccine sentiment, centrist conservatives who’ve championed similar bills have also been conspicuously missing from this year’s midterm ballots. Replacing them are candidates backed by well-financed organizations made up of members who either entertain the fraudulent science linking vaccines to autism, who believe their kids have had adverse vaccine reactions, or think the government shouldn’t dictate what goes in their children’s bodies. (Molteni, 11/5)
Georgia Health News:
Ga. Governor Candidates And Health Care
Graduate students at the College of Public Health of the University of Georgia have created a “nonpartisan, fact-based infographic” detailing the health policy positions of gubernatorial candidates Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp. To avoid political rhetoric, the graphic shows how the candidates describe their own views on health care in Georgia, and does not include how Abrams and Kemp might characterize each other’s positions. (Miller, 11/5)
