Healthcare Summit: Road to Bipartisanship or Political Theater?

Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D HI) will leave his House seat on Sunday to run for governor; Rep. Robert Wexler (D FL) resigned in January to take another job; Rep. John Murtha (D PA) died this month following gallbladder surgery; and Rep. Parker Griffith(R-AL) switched from the Democratic party in December. These changes might ultimately mean a different health reform plan.

The summit also will be in part the culmination of more than a year of lobbying in the Nation's capital. According to the Washington, DC-based Center for Public Integrity, more than 1,750 companies and organizations hired about 4,525 lobbyists—almost eight for each member of Congress—to influence healthcare reform bills in 2009.

Among the industries that have lobbied Congress include 207 hospitals, 105 insurance companies, and 85 manufacturing companies. Trade, advocacy, and professional organizations accounted for 745 registered groups that lobbied on health reform bills, according to Center for Public Integrity.