PACs, SIGs, and Healthcare, Essay Example

Political Action Committees are by definition Special Interest Groups, but not all SIGs are PACs. PACs are groups dedicated to winning elections through the funding of advocacy advertising, while a SIG can be any group of people sharing a common interest which may or may not be political or financial. Some PACs may have started out as local SIGs that over time formed umbrella groups that in turn connected with each other to form networks and then PACs.

PACs and SIGs abound in the medical field. Obstetricians and gynecologists have at least one of their own (OpenSecrets.org) as do at least some if not all health insurance providers (AHIP, 2015). Virtually all healthcare- and insurance-providers need SIG lobbyists actively seeking out legislators in the capitol halls of the states and the nation to protect their respective interests. But that is not necessarily the bad thing that many voters assume it to be. To a large extent, lobbyists just provide information to legislators. To junior members of Congress, they have even functioned as surrogate staff, being technical experts on a given piece of legislation and capable of explaining it to newly-elected and even senior legislators unfamiliar with it. (Weatherford, 1985). Legislators know exactly where the lobbyists stand on that legislation.

As with many political issues, there are both short- and long-term perspectives. SIGs influence that debate at least as much as PACs do, which are primarily about elections. Consider that the overriding concern in healthcare is cost. Consumers who want those costs decreased and producers (such as drug companies) who want them increased in order to fund further research and government-required testing all form SIGs to influence Congress and PACs to elect or re-elect members of Congress who seem best able to bring about the outcomes that each opposing camp wants to achieve. Liberals tend to side with consumers and conservatives with producers.

SIGs consist of specially interested people, and PACs help them win elections.

References

AHIP. (2015). AHIP. Retrieved from AHIP: https://www.ahip.org/

OpenSecrets.org. (n.d.). American Congress of Obstetricians & Gynecologists. Retrieved from OpenSecrets.org: http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00364158

Weatherford, J. M. (1985). Tribes on the Hill. Westport: Praeger.