Healthcare & Big Pharma
Americans pay more for healthcare than any other developed nation, yet have worse outcomes on most metrics. The pharmaceutical industry is the most profitable sector in the U.S. economy and the biggest spender on federal lobbying — a combination that directly shapes drug pricing, FDA regulation, and the political impossibility of meaningful reform.
Gen Us covers healthcare and pharma because the gap between what Americans pay and what they receive is a direct product of corporate influence over policy. Drug companies set prices based on what the market will bear, not on research costs or patient need, and then spend billions ensuring that no law changes this dynamic.
We trace pharma lobbying to specific policy outcomes, document the FDA revolving door, analyze how drug company advertising distorts both media coverage and clinical practice, and compare U.S. drug prices to the rest of the world.
Key Questions We're Asking
- •Why do Americans pay 2-3x more for the same drugs available in Canada and Europe?
- •How does the FDA revolving door — regulators becoming pharma executives and vice versa — affect drug approval and safety oversight?
- •What is the relationship between pharmaceutical advertising spending and media coverage of drug pricing policy?
- •How do pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) capture value between drug manufacturers and patients?
- •Why does the U.S. government remain prohibited from negotiating drug prices for most Medicare beneficiaries?
What Mainstream Media Misses
- •Pharma companies claim high drug prices fund R&D, but most spend more on marketing, lobbying, and stock buybacks than on research.
- •The FDA revolving door is documented but rarely covered as a systemic issue driving regulatory capture.
- •Direct-to-consumer drug advertising (legal only in the U.S. and New Zealand) is a major revenue source for the media outlets that would otherwise cover pharma critically.
- •The PBM industry — three companies control 80% of the market — operates as a hidden toll booth that drives up costs while remaining largely invisible to the public.
Follow the Money
- •The pharmaceutical industry spends over $350 million annually on federal lobbying — more than any other sector.
- •Drug companies spend over $6 billion annually on direct-to-consumer advertising in the U.S.
- •The top 10 pharmaceutical companies reported combined profits exceeding $100 billion in recent years.
- •Pharma PACs and executives contributed hundreds of millions to Congressional campaigns, with donations flowing to members of committees with jurisdiction over drug pricing.