Non-profit

Health Care Voter

Website:

healthcarevoter.org

Type:

Pro-Obamacare Coalition

Project of:

Sixteen Thirty Fund

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

Health Care Voter is a left-of-center healthcare advocacy organization created in 2017 to block the repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as “Obamacare”). The group is closely connected with professional Democratic Party politics; Health Care Voter co-chair Brad Woodhouse is a longtime Democratic Party political strategist who previously served as president of American Bridge 21st Century and Americans United for Change (AUFC).

Health Care Voter is a project of the 501(c)(4) advocacy group and incubator Sixteen Thirty Fund, which manages a number of single-issue advocacy front groups.1

Background

Health Care Voter was organized as part of a coalition of left-of-center activist groups—including professional left-wing advocacy organizations and labor unions—focused on preserving Obamacare.   Other groups in the pro-Obamacare coalition include Save My Care, Protect Our Care, and Get America Covered.  These groups, along with Health Care Voter, are all projects of incubator nonprofits organized and managed by Arabella Advisors, a left-leaning philanthropy consulting firm. Health Care Voter’s incubator, Sixteen Thirty Fund, manages other single-issue advocacy groups, including healthcare advocacy groups Protect Our Care and SoCal Healthcare Coalition.

One Health Care Voter co-chair, Brad Woodhouse, was involved in the passage of Obamacare in 2010. While Obamacare was being voted on in Congress, Woodhouse was on the steering committee for Health Care for America Now (HCAN), a 501(c)(4) advocacy group created with millions of dollars in startup funds from the Bermuda-based foundation Atlantic Philanthropies.2 HCAN was credited with coordinating much of the media campaign to pass Obamacare in Congress, working with professional activist groups such as MoveOn.org, the AFL-CIO, Organizing for Action, and the now-defunct Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) to lobby for the legislation.3 HCAN now exists as a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund alongside Health Care Voter.

Political Activism

In response to Republican Party efforts to “repeal and replace” Obamacare during Donald Trump’s presidency, Health Care Voter launched a series of voter mobilization campaigns targeting Republican Congressmen who voted to repeal Obamacare.4 During the 2018 midterm election cycle, Health Care Voter spent over $1 million on advertisements across 20 congressional districts.5 Additionally, Health Care Voter claims to have registered over 750,000 people to vote on the issue of healthcare,6 and conducted a series of opinion polls in key congressional districts.7

Health Care Voter uses the liberal consulting and coalition-building group The Hub Project (also a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund) for public relations services. 8

Leadership

Brad Woodhouse

Brad Woodhouse is a co-chair of Health Care Voter. Woodhouse is also the campaign director for Protect Our Care, which is also a Sixteen Thirty Fund project and member organization of the pro-Obamacare coalition.

Woodhouse is a longtime Democratic political operative who previously served as president of both American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic Party PAC, and pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC Correct the Record.9 Both groups were created by David Brock, a Democratic Party operative close to the Clinton family. During the 2016 presidential election, Woodhouse ran the left-wing agitation group Americans United For Change (AUFC).

Before Woodhouse worked for left-leaning PACs, he was a communications director for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and senior strategist for both of Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns.10 Woodhouse was also communications director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and has held various staff positions under Democratic politicians.11

Woodhouse’s promotion of Obamacare can be traced back to his experience on the steering committee for Health Care for America Now (HCAN), a 501(c)(4) responsible for coordinating the media campaign to pass Obamacare.12

Alyssa Milano

Alyssa Milano is a co-chair of Health Care Voter. Milano is an American actress and political activist.

Laura Packard

Laura Packard is a co-chair of Health Care Voter. Packard is a Democratic political operative who runs her own consulting firm, PowerThru Consulting.13 Previously, Packard worked for the AFL-CIO.14

Donna Edwards

Donna Edwards is a co-chair of Health Care Voter. Edwards a Democratic politician and former U.S. Representative for Maryland’s 4th congressional district.

Tionne (T-Boz) Watkins

Tionne Watkins is a co-chair of Health Care Voter.  Watkins is a member of the 1990s female pop group TLC and is a healthcare activist.

Elena Hung

Elena Hung is a co-chair of Health Care Voter. Hung is an immigration lawyer and children’s health care activist.

Anton Gunn

Anton Gunn is a co-chair of Health Care Voter. Gunn worked for the Department of Health and Human Services during the Obama administration, where he helped implement Obamacare.

Karamo Brown

Karamo Brown is a co-chair of Heath Care Voter. Karamo is a former reality TV star and LGBT activist.

Ady Barkan

Ady Barkan is a co-chair of Health Care Voter. Barkan is also a Senior Campaigner at the Center for Popular Democracy, a left-of-center 501(c)(3) organization that receives millions in funding from left-wing foundations.

Funding

Health Care Voter is a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a left-wing 501(c)(4) funding and fiscal sponsorship group managed by the Washington, D.C.-based consultancy Arabella Advisors. While it is unspecified how much money the Sixteen Thirty Fund spends on Health Care Voter, the nonprofit organization earned over $21 million in revenue in 2016.15

Partner Organizations

Health Care Voter’s list of partner organizations includes the following groups:

Black Gifted & Whole

Change Now

Grey Roots Action

Little Lobbyists

Moms Rising

Maine People’s Alliance

New Jersey Citizen Action

New Jersey for a Better Future

One PA

Our Lives on the Line

Pantsuit Nation

Progress Iowa

Progress Now Colorado

Progress Virginia

Rise to Run

SEIU

Six Action

Town Hall Project

References

  1. “Paid for by Health Care Voter, a Project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund. Not Authorized by Any Candidate or Candidate’s Committee.” Health Care Voter. Accessed January 17, 2019. https://healthcarevoter.org/
  2. Ludwig, Hayden. “Who is Behind the Groups Pushing Obamacare?” Capital Research Center. January 10, 2018. Accessed January 17, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/article/who-is-behind-the-groups-pushing-obamacare/.

  3. Ludwig, Hayden. “Who is Behind the Groups Pushing Obamacare?” Capital Research Center. January 10, 2018. Accessed January 17, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/article/who-is-behind-the-groups-pushing-obamacare/.
  4. [1] McCammond, Alexi. “Progressives target 20 vulnerable Republicans on health care.” Axios. September 6, 2018. Accessed January 17, 2019. https://www.axios.com/health-care-voter-campaign-2018-midterm-lections-664b9163-f6f7-435c-a00e-1ffbfd19303b.html.
  5. Garcia, Eric. “Liberal Health Care Group Launches Seven-Figure Campaign.” Roll Call. September 6, 2018. Accessed January 17, 2019. https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/liberal-health-care-group-starts-seven-figure-campaign-embargoed-until-8-am.
  6. McIntire, Mary Ellen. “It’s Baaaccck! Health Care Law Again Front and Center in Midterms.” Roll Call. October 3, 2018. Accessed January 17, 2019. https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/health-care-law-returns-midterms.
  7. “NEW HOUSE POLLS: Voters Cite Health Care as Top Issue Ahead of Midterm Elections.” Health Care Voter. Accessed January 17, 2019. https://healthcarevoter.org/new-house-polls-voters-cite-health-care-top-issue-ahead-midterm-elections/.
  8. See statement from “spokeswoman” Mikka Macdonald in this article:

    “Federal Judge In Fort Worth Strikes Down Obamacare As Unconstitutional.” December 14, 2018. Accessed January 17, 2019.  https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2018/12/14/federal-judge-texas-strikes-down-obamacare-unconstitutional/.

    Mikka MacDonald is listed as a communications manager on the website of the progressive consulting firm, The Hub Project:

    “Mikka MacDonald.” The Hub Project. Accessed January 17, 2019. https://thehubproject.org/mikka-macdonald/

    Also, see statements from “spokesman” Tim Hogan mentioned in these two articles:

    1. Garcia, Eric. “Liberal Health Care Group Launches Seven-Figure campaign.” Roll Call. September 6, 2018. Accessed January 17, 2019. https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/liberal-health-care-group-starts-seven-figure-campaign-embargoed-until-8-am
    2. McIntire, Mary Ellen. “It’s Baaaccck! Health Care Law Again Front and Center in Midterms.” Roll Call. October 3, 2018. Accessed January 17, 2019. https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/health-care-law-returns-midterms.

    Tim Hogan is listed as a National Press Secretary on the website of the progressive consulting firm, the Hub Project. “Tim Hogan.” The Hub Project. Accessed January 17. 2019. https://thehubproject.org/tim-hogan/

  9. Graves, Lucia. “Meet the Man Who’s Making Super PACs Extra Super.” The Atlantic. July 31, 2015. Accessed January 17, 2019. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/07/meet-the-man-whos-making-super-pacs-extra-super/439692/.
  10. “Brad Woodhouse.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 17, 2019. https://www.linkedin.com/in/woodhousebrad1/
  11. “Brad Woodhouse.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 17, 2019. https://www.linkedin.com/in/woodhousebrad1/
  12. Pollack, Harold. “The group that got health reform passed is declaring victory and going home.” The Washington Post. January 5, 2014. Accessed January 17, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/01/05/the-group-that-got-health-reform-passed-is-declaring-victory-and-going-home/?utm_term=.acc4a0f6f787
  13. Packard, Laura. “Home.” Accessed January 17, 2019. https://www.laurapackard.com/
  14. “Laura Packard.” Health Care Voter. Accessed January 18, 2019. https://healthcarevoter.org/co-chairs/#packard
  15. Ludwig, Hayden. “The Dark Money Group Propping Up Obamacare.” Capital Research Center. December 19, 2018. Accessed January 08, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-dark-money-group-propping-up-obamacare/.
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