How interest groups behind health-care legislation are financed is often unclear

By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 7, 2010

Many of the Washington interest groups that are seeking to shape final health-care legislation in the coming weeks operate with opaque financing, often receiving hidden support from insurers, drugmakers or unions.

The groups, some newly formed and others reappearing with different sponsors, have spent months staging noisy protests, organizing letter-writing campaigns and contributing to a record $200 million advertising blitz on health-care reform.

Now, interest groups are making a last-minute push as Democrats begin working out the differences between the House and Senate health-care bills. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said after a White House meeting Wednesday that negotiators are "very close" to an agreement.

The compressed time frame gives outside groups one more chance to attempt to derail the legislation or influence it to their advantage. But in many cases, it is hard to tell where their money is coming from.

(Continued here.)