McDermottPlus Ends Big Health Lobbying After Five Years

September 2, 2026 - 23:04

McDermottPlus LLC has officially ended its lobbying arrangement with Big Health Inc., closing out a five-year working relationship that had positioned the digital therapeutics company inside key federal policy conversations. The termination was confirmed in recent filings with the U.S. Senate, though neither side offered a public explanation for the split.

Big Health, known for its FDA-cleared digital programs for insomnia and depression, had leaned on McDermottPlus to navigate the increasingly complex reimbursement and coverage landscape for software-based treatments. Over the years, the firm's lobbyists worked on issues tied to telehealth expansion, Medicare coverage rules, and the push for separate payment pathways for digital therapeutics. That work helped Big Health stay visible in Washington as regulators and lawmakers wrestled with how to fit app-based care into traditional health systems.

The end of this contract does not signal a retreat from advocacy by Big Health. The company may simply be reshuffling its outside counsel or bringing government affairs in-house. Still, the move comes at a time when digital health companies are facing tighter budgets and more scrutiny over their policy returns on investment. Lobbying disclosures show the firm had been paid steadily, but the exact dollar amount for the final year was not immediately clear.

For McDermottPlus, losing a long-term client in the behavioral health tech space is notable but not catastrophic. The firm continues to represent a broad roster of hospitals, device makers, and pharma companies. The bigger question is whether Big Health will find new representation quickly or decide to go it alone as Congress turns its attention to mental health parity and AI in medicine. Either way, the quiet ending of this contract is a reminder that even stable lobbying relationships are not built to last forever.