When the state Legislature convenes in a special session to tackle a health care bill for children, 42 state senators, 70 representatives and more than 70 lobbyists will be working for an even larger number of health care companies, medical associations, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and health-related charities.

That number is based on lobbyists registered at the Secretary of State's Office.

In addition to hiring lobbyists, the health care industry has been diligent about handing out contributions to New Mexico politicians, which, according to a report by a "good government" watchdog group, might have contributed to the health industry having a bigger voice in determining state health policy.

New Mexico health insurance companies like Presbyterian and Blue Cross Blue Shield have lobbyists working the halls and committee rooms as do hospitals including Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center and Lovelace, and national drug giants such as Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck and Co. and Johnson & Johnson.

And if you need an aspirin during the session, you might ask John G. Barrett, the lobbyist for Bayer Corp.

In the regular legislative session earlier this year, most of the health industry supported Gov. Bill Richardson's health care proposals, including his call for requiring health insurance for all New Mexicans. That proposal, which failed to pass in the regular session, has since been scaled back to cover only children.

Tom Horan, a longtime lobbyist with several clients including Presbyterian, said this week that Presbyterian supports Richardson's latest proposal, though company officials believe it should be modified to require mandatory participation by all children in the state.

Not all the health lobbyists represent big business interests. For example, the Health Security for New Mexicans Campaign — a coalition of dozens of medical associations, civil-rights groups, religious organizations and labor unions that advocate "single-payer" health insurance — has a registered lobbyist. That's Mary Feldblum, the coalition's executive director. Feldblum has been critical of Richardson's proposals, which she says subsidizes the insurance industry.

According to a study by New Mexico Common Cause, "Over the past five election cycles, the health care industry, including pharmaceutical companies, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), and hospitals contributed over $1.6 million in campaign donations to candidates for New Mexico state office."

Of that total, Richardson has received more than $710,000 for his two gubernatorial races, according to the study. And that doesn't include more than $878,000 contributed to his unsuccessful presidential campaign by people in the health industry last year, according to data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics.

The study originally was published in 2007 and updated this year to include more recent statistics.

The effect of the contributions, the study says, is "state government has been extremely inclusive of the health care industry in the decision-making process with regard to health care policy."

The amount of health care money flowing to New Mexico campaigns skyrocketed in 2006. In most previous elections, the total hovered around $200,000, with the most being $248,313 in 2002. In 2006, however, the total health care contribution number shot up to $869,029. Of that, $580,889 went to Richardson's campaign, according to the Common Cause study.

The biggest contributor in the health services and insurance sector to New Mexico politicians between 1998 and 2006 was Presbyterian. According to data collected by the National Institute of Money in State Politics, the combined total of Presbyterian Health Plan and Presbyterian Health Care Services for those years was $255,900. Presbyterian companies contributed $110,000 to Richardson's state campaigns since 2002.

At the outset of Richardson's administration, the state Human Services Department contracted with Presbyterian to administer the Medicaid program, including prescription drugs.

"It was argued that Presbyterian could do as good, if not a better job at negotiating bulk drug prices for the state's Medicaid patients," the Common Cause report says. "However, no data were readily available to test that assertion."

Last year, state Human Services Secretary Pam Hyde denied campaign contributions have had any effect on the state's health policies. She defended the contract with Presbyterian, saying separating prescription drugs from the rest of the Medicaid services didn't make sense.

Among hospitals and nursing homes, the biggest single contributor is the Albuquerque-based Sun Healthcare Group, a nursing home company that has nine facilities in the state. Sun donated $115,000 to New Mexico candidates during the years of the study.

As far as pharmaceutical and health product companies go, the biggest contributor is Pfizer, which has given New Mexico candidates $61,700 between 1998 and 2006. Richardson's campaigns received $16,000 from the company, plus another $2,111 from Linda Pryor, a senior manager of Pfizer.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.