campaign cash

Doctors give big

The next two years could be a crucial time for doctors as Congress considers the first major overhaul of how Medicare pays physicians, and the left flank of the Democratic party rallies around Medicare for all.

With so much on the line, doctors are showing up for candidates with medical degrees.

Physicians account for about two-thirds of the $3.4 million that Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has raised from health care entities in his campaign against GOP candidate Mike Rogers, according to Open Secrets.

El-Sayed, who holds a medical degree but is not a practicing physician, has raised $2.3 million from doctors. That number excludes donations from the categories of “Psychiatrists & psychologists” and “Optometrists & Ophthalmologists,” because they include both medical doctors and non-physician health practitioners. Together, those groups gave another $78,900.

Michigan is one of the highest profile races this midterm election, so the numbers are much higher than other races. For example, doctors have donated about $570,000 to South Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Annie Andrews, a pediatrician. Andrews is running against Sen. Darline Graham (R), the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.

But for an election season in which Republicans have far outraised Democrats, doctors are giving fairly equal amounts to both parties.

Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), an emergency physician and one of the six Democratic members of the Congressional Doctors Caucus, has received $389,000 from doctors. That’s slightly more than the $381,000 that doctors have given to Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.), a urologist who is a co-chair of the GOP Doctors Caucus.

Ruiz is a vocal backer of legislation that would tie Medicare physician payment rates to the Medicare Economic Index, which would pay doctors more than a separate bill under consideration that would tie pay rates to the MEI, minus 1%.

Medicare payment isn’t the only thing on doctors’ minds. Some Democrats also are agitating for a single-payer public health insurance system, though a minority of Democrats in competitive races back Medicare for All, according to the Brookings Institution. The American Medical Association, the largest doctor lobby, opposes Medicare for All. The second largest physician group, the American College of Physicians, supports either a single payer system or public option sold alongside private insurance.