America’s Agenda

Its charitable arm is the America’s Agenda Healthcare Education Fund.

Background

America’s Agenda: Healthcare for All was founded on October 7, 2004 with a focus on advocating for the implementation of government-controlled universal health care. Its founding chairman and current president Douglas Dority was previously the president of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the sixth-largest labor union in the United States which represents workers in food production, retail, and chemical industries. ^{1 2}

In November 2006, the group registered as a tax exempt political advocacy organization in Lenox, Massachusetts. Since roughly 2018, following the gradual broadening of the organization’s advocacy efforts, America’s Agenda: Healthcare for All started using a shortened form of its name, America’s Agenda, on its website and in its documents. The organization’s main offices are now in Washington, D.C. ^{1 2 3}

America’s Agenda is related to the America’s Agenda Healthcare Education Fund, a fundraising nonprofit organization which registered in November 2006 in Washington, D.C. ⁴

Activities

In 2016, representatives of America’s Agenda met with then-New Jersey State Treasurer Ford Scudder and staffers from the New Jersey State Senate and New Jersey Treasury to advocate for the adoption of a ‘pharmacy benefit manager’ system. The system proposed that the state auction off the right to provide prescription drug benefits to its public employees to eligible firms, accepting a bid through an automated digital auction platform based on the contract offered with the general aim of lowering state spending on prescription drugs. Later, New Jersey State Senator Stephen M. Sweeney (D-Cumberland) introduced legislation which created a framework establishing the state’s use of such managers and providing for the selection of a technology vendor to create the necessary platform. The bill was approved by the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly and became law on November 21, 2016. ⁵⁶⁷

On May 3, 2019, America’s Agenda claimed partial responsibility for the Maryland state legislature’s decision to pass House Bill 768, which directed the state’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board to study the use of a reverse auction marketplace for prescription drugs. The legislation was in line with the recommendation of America’s Agenda chief economist Mike Kapsa, who wrote an article supporting the position during the time in which the legislature was deliberating on the bill. ⁸

On July 11, 2019, America’s Agenda’s executive director Mark Blum issued a critical statement on the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw a proposed rule on Medicare Part D rebates. Blum criticized the move for transferring regulatory power over the relationship between pharmacy benefit managers and prescription drug prices to state governments. ⁹

People

All of America’s Agenda’s top leaders have extensive connections to left-of-center labor unions. Douglas Dority is the founding president and chairman of America’s Agenda. Before founding the organization, Dority was the president of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). ¹⁰

Eric Dean is the Secretary Treasurer of America’s Agenda. Beforehand, Dean was the general president of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers Union. ¹¹

Mark Blum is the executive director of America’s Agenda and a member of the New Jersey State Health Benefits Value and Quality Task Force. Previously, Blum was national director of organizing for the American Association of University Professors. ¹²

Partners

America’s Agenda is partnered with and controlled by a large coalition of labor unions, including some of the largest and most influential unions in the United States. These include the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, Communications Workers of America (CWA), the New Jersey Education Association, the Office and Professional Employees International Union, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, UNITE HERE!,  United Mine Workers of America, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Ironworkers Union, the Laborers’ International Union of North America, and UFCW. ¹³