Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- The army of industry lobbyists in the health-care battle is fighting on familiar terrain: More than half of them used to work for the government they’re trying to influence.

Of 2,737 lobbyists hired to promote the interests of drug companies, insurers, hospitals, health professionals, industry groups and business organizations, 1,418 -- or 52 percent -- have worked for Congress, the White House or federal agencies. That includes 55 former members of Congress.

Government veterans give clients such as Amgen Inc. -- the world’s biggest biotechnology company, represented by 35 former congressional employees -- an advantage over public-interest organizations and groups with different health-care priorities. Former lawmakers or committee aides have an easier time getting through to erstwhile colleagues and know which arguments are persuasive, said Representative Maurice Hinchey.

“It gives them a leg up in terms of being able to talk to people more easily,” said Hinchey, a New York Democrat and a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which supports creating a government-run health plan to compete with private insurers. “Their names are familiar. They’ve had conversations before with the people they now want to influence.”

Former Colleagues

Health-care lobbyists include former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican, and Louisiana’s former Democratic Senator John Breaux. Both sat on the Senate Finance Committee, which is debating legislation to remake a health-care system that accounts for about 18 percent of the U.S. economy.

Their firm, Breaux Lott Leadership Group, represents the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the drug industry’s Washington trade group.

The Podesta Group, the fourth biggest lobbying firm by revenue in 2009, has several former congressional staffers as it represents 22 clients in the health care debate. “These are people who know the members and know the staff and understand the inner workings of the leadership and the various important committees,” chairman Tony Podesta said. “It’s an enormously significant helpful thing to have.”

Outnumbering Congress

Counting representatives for all clients, including municipalities, educational or religious organizations, and advocacy groups, 3,300 people -- six for every member of Congress -- have registered to lobby on health-care proposals.

While federal law requires lobbyists to disclose high- ranking government positions, many people omitted that information, according to a review of thousands of forms filed with the House and Senate. To measure the role of former federal employees, the disclosures were supplemented with information from lobbying firms’ Web sites; LegiStorm, an independent Web site on Congress; social-networking sites; and the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington research group.

Among business and industry lobbyists with government backgrounds, 1,261 of them worked on Capitol Hill. More than half of those, 680 lobbyists, were former members or aides from the five committees writing health-care legislation: the Finance and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committees in the Senate; and the Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor committees in the House.

Revolving Door

“The revolving door is one of the most effective ways of influence-peddling on Capitol Hill,” said Craig Holman of Public Citizen, a Washington advocacy group that supports stricter lobbying restrictions. “It provides a special- interest group with exceptional inside access.”

The pharmaceutical trade group, known as PhRMA, hired 86 lobbyists who have worked on Capitol Hill, more than anyone else, records show. The Business Roundtable, the Washington- based association of chief executive officers, and Thousand Oaks, California-based Amgen each had 35 congressional veterans representing their interests.

“Clearly, former Hill staffers have a unique understanding of the legislative process,” said PhRMA senior vice president Ken Johnson. Amgen spokeswoman Emma Hurley didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.

Richard Kirsch, national campaign manager of Health Care for America Now, a coalition of labor and advocacy groups such as the AFL-CIO and the NAACP, said consumer-oriented organizations don’t have the same firepower.

“Groups that represent citizens and consumers are going to be totally outgunned on Capitol Hill,” said Kirsch, whose group supports public competition with private insurers and premiums based on the ability to pay. “Not only are we going to be outnumbered, but the other side is going to be speaking with people they have longstanding relationships with.”

Experience

Clients other than industry and business-related groups have 684 lobbyists who have registered to work on health-care issues. Of those, 245 people -- or 36 percent -- have worked in Congress or the executive branch. Some lobbyists have both industry and non-industry clients.

Former Florida Representative Jim Davis said his experience in Congress is an advantage for clients at Miami-based Holland & Knight LLP, the fifth-biggest lobbying firm by revenue in 2009.

“Having sat in their shoes, I think I have an appreciation for their task and an understanding of how these lawmakers are under enormous pressure to write a bill, something that is actually going to work,” said Davis, a Florida Democrat whose clients include the Florida Hospital Association.

Getting phone calls returned doesn’t mean that Capitol Hill veterans get everything they ask for, said John Jonas, a former Ways and Means committee aide who works at Washington-based Patton Boggs LLP, the biggest lobbying firm by revenue in 2009.

“It really gives you an understanding of how decisions are reached and what information they look at,” said Jonas, whose clients include New York-based Pfizer Inc., the world’s biggest drugmaker, and New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. “I don’t think it ever rises to the level of, if I go in and say something, they say, ‘No problem, John.’”

To contact the reporters on this story: Jonathan D. Salant in Washington at jsalant@bloomberg.net; Lizzie O’Leary in Washington at loleary2@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 25, 2009 12:13 EDT