"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 [3] Advantage plans), curbing Big Pharma [4]'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 [5], ramping up campaign contributions to Democratic politicians and hiring lobbyists who formerly worked as aides to Democratic politicians including Nancy Pelosi [6], Max Baucus [7], Charles Rangel [8] and Ted Kennedy [9]. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America [10], 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 [11], the American Lung Association [12] and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America [13] "in the hope that it will curb their new allies' appetites for going after Big Pharma."