"Congress' ability to curb the explosive rise in drug costs is a bellwether of the political prospects for health care reform," writes Merrill Goozner. "Along with eliminating unnecessary payments to insurance firms (like the 12 percent bump they get for selling Medicare [1] Advantage plans), curbing Big Pharma [2]'s voracious appetite for selling overpriced and often unnecessary drugs is the low-hanging fruit of cost control." In order to prevent this from happening, therefore, drug companies are wooing Democrats [3], ramping up campaign contributions to Democratic politicians and hiring lobbyists who formerly worked as aides to Democratic politicians including Nancy Pelosi [4], Max Baucus [5], Charles Rangel [6] and Ted Kennedy [7]. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America [8], the industry's main lobbying group, is "leaving nothing to chance," Goozner writes, forming coalitions with other groups including the American Association of Retired Persons [9], the American Lung Association [10] and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America [11] "in the hope that it will curb their new allies' appetites for going after Big Pharma."