Non-profit

Arizonans United for Health Care

Website:

www.arizonansunitedforhealthcare.org

Type:

Pro-Obamacare Advocacy Group

Project of:

Sixteen Thirty Fund

Lead Organizer:

Alma Hernandez

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Arizonans United for Health Care is a left-of-center healthcare advocacy front created to oppose the repeal of Obamacare. The entity is a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a 501(c)(4) funding and fiscal sponsorship organization managed by the Washington, D.C.-based consultancy Arabella Advisors.

Background

Arizonans United for Health Care is a healthcare advocacy group that helped people sign up for plans under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. The organization later rallied people to oppose efforts in Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare. 1

The Arizona organization is one of many state-based political projects of the Washington, D.C.-based Sixteen Thirty Fund, a 501(c)(4) secret money operation. Sixteen Thirty Fund is associated with and has a management contract with Arabella Advisors, a for-profit advocacy-philanthropic consulting firm. 2 Sixteen Thirty spent $4.6 million during the 2018 election cycle among 12 state-based organizations, according to Politico. 3

Activities

Arizonans United for Health Care advocated strongly against the proposals by Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration to repeal and replace Obamacare. Arizonans United for Health Care organized protest rallies in Tucson, Arizona and in Washington, D.C. 4

The organization was active in issue advocacy ads in Arizona during the 2018 midterm congressional elections. Sixteen Thirty Fund gave the Arizonans United for Healthcare $92,713 for TV ads to run against Republican candidates in Arizona. 5

Alma Hernandez

Alma Hernandez was the lead organizer of the Arizonans United for Healthcare during the Obamacare legislative fights in 2017 and 2018. In November 2018, Hernandez won a seat in the Arizona state House of Representatives representing a part of Tuscon. MoveOn.org endorsed her candidacy. 6

She has a background in public health. Her major at the University of Arizona was care, health and society. Her minor was public health. She then earned a Master’s in Public Health at the university. She further studied epidemiology in evidence-based policy and social epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 7

She was involved with several other left-of-center nonprofit groups in Arizona. She founded Tucson Jews for Justice in March 2018 to oppose the immigration enforcement policies of the Trump administration. She openly talked about having family members who were in the United States illegally. She first embraced the Jewish faith in high school and was president of a pro-Israel student group at the University of Arizona. As a progressive activist, she says she remains unapologetically pro-Israel, but cares for all people. 8

Hernandez managed several local campaigns and was a delegate for Hillary Clinton at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. 9

References

  1. Sales, Ben. “Mexican-American Jewish Woman Runs for Office on Arizona Southern Border.” Jewish News. July 27, 2018. Accessed June 19, 2019. http://www.jewishaz.com/community/profile/mexican-american-jewish-woman-runs-for-office-on-az-southern/article_a234c574-7a21-11e8-8130-a3cbb2245c8f.html
  2. Bland, Scott. “Liberal Secret-Money Network Hammers House GOP. Politico. July 29, 2018. Accessed June 19, 2019. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/29/democrats-dark-money-midterms-house-745145.
  3. Bland, Scott. “Liberal Secret-Money Network Hammers House GOP. Politico. July 29, 2018. Accessed June 19, 2019. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/29/democrats-dark-money-midterms-house-745145.
  4. Alma for Arizona. Accessed June 19, 2019. https://www.almaforarizona.org/about_alma
  5. Bland, Scott. “Liberal Secret-Money Network Hammers House GOP. Politico. July 29, 2018. Accessed June 19, 2019. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/29/democrats-dark-money-midterms-house-745145. Chart with article containing precise numbers. https://www.politico.com/interactives/charts/chartwerk/9vnx86ug_single.html?initialWidth=270&childId=chartwerk_9vnx86ug&parentTitle=Liberal%20secret-money%20network%20hammers%20House%20GOP%20-%20POLITICO&parentUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com%2Fstory%2F2018%2F07%2F29%2Fdemocrats-dark-money-midterms-house-745145
  6. “Candidate Profile.” MoveOn Candidates. Accessed July 15, 2019. https://candidates2018.moveon.org/profile-alma-hernandez/.
  7. Gentzler, Sara. “Meet the New Representatives on Arizona’s House Health Committee.” State of Reform. November 29, 2018. Accessed June 19, 2019. https://stateofreform.com/news/states/arizona/2018/11/meet-the-new-reps-on-arizonas-house-health-committee/
  8. Sales, Ben. “Mexican-American Jewish Woman Runs for Office on Arizona Southern Border.” Jewish News. July 27, 2018. Accessed June 19, 2019. http://www.jewishaz.com/community/profile/mexican-american-jewish-woman-runs-for-office-on-az-southern/article_a234c574-7a21-11e8-8130-a3cbb2245c8f.html
  9. Sales, Ben. “Mexican-American Jewish Woman Runs for Office on Arizona Southern Border.” Jewish News. July 27, 2018. Accessed June 19, 2019. http://www.jewishaz.com/community/profile/mexican-american-jewish-woman-runs-for-office-on-az-southern/article_a234c574-7a21-11e8-8130-a3cbb2245c8f.html
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