Non-profit

Health Care for America Now (HCAN)

Website:

healthcareforamericanow.org

Location:

Washington, DC

Tax ID:

35-2332813

Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(4)

Type:

Obamacare Advocacy Group

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

Health Care for America Now (HCAN) is a center-left issue advocacy organization focused on healthcare issues. It is credited with playing a significant role in creating the blueprint for the law that became Obamacare, 1 and then with providing a one of the most important political and public relations campaigns that brought about passage of the law.2 HCAN has been criticized as a “dark money” organization for receiving a significant part of its funding from a foreign grantmaking foundation that does not file tax returns in the United States.

While the original HCAN was dissolved after the 2010 passage of Obamacare, according to documents (available here) created by the liberal consulting firm Arabella Advisors, HCAN currently exists as a project of the 501(c)(4) advocacy group Sixteen Thirty Fund while the HCAN Education Fund is a project of the 501(c)(3) New Venture Fund. 3 Both groups are managed by Arabella Advisors and have been criticized as left-wing “dark money” organizations for the funding and fiscal sponsorship services they provide  to groups on the professional Left. Sixteen Thirty Fund also manages a number of pro-Obamacare projects aligned with HCAN, including Protect Our Care and Health Care Voter. 4

HCAN was created in 2007 as a coalition of hundreds of mostly left-wing advocacy organizations and labor unions at the state and national level. The coalition first crafted a shared vision of changes they hoped to make to American health insurance coverage laws, and then created a comprehensive campaign plan for how they would accomplish the goal. Before the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination was decided, all of the major Democratic candidates—including eventual nominee Barack Obama—had agreed to support healthcare plans broadly similar to HCAN’s.5 Major HCAN coalition partners include MoveOn Civic Action (MoveOn.org), the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAP Action), the AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).6

During its most active years, from 2008 through 2010, HCAN spent $47.2 million on this campaign.7 An early planning grant and most of the funding during this period ($27 million) was provided by the left-wing, Bermuda-based foundation Atlantic Philanthropies. The remainder of the support came from coalition partners ($9 million), other foundations ($6 million), and individual donors ($6 million).8

Half of the 2008-2010 spending ($23.8 million) was for paid media. This included $3.8 million for health care issue-advocacy advertising targeted at five U.S. House districts and one U.S. Senate seat during the 2008 general election, and then $20 million spent during the 2009-2010 campaign to persuade Congress to pass Obamacare.9

The accuracy of HCAN’s paid media was called into question. One of the HCAN TV advertisements that aired during September 2009 asserted that health insurance companies were rejecting 20 percent of patient claims so that the CEOs could be paid $24 million per year. The left-leaning PolitiFact examined both charges, finding the statement regarding CEO pay to be a ten-fold exaggeration,10 and the alleged rate of claim rejection to be absolutely false. 11

HCAN initially shut down at the end of December 2013, with the former national campaign manager declaring it had accomplished its goals.12 In February 2017, two former top staffers—calling themselves “co-directors” of HCAN—announced it had “come back together to fight against efforts to repeal and undermine the law.”13 During July 2017, HCAN was listed as one of the organizers of a demonstration at U.S. Capitol offices against a Republican plan to replace Obamacare. During these events U.S. Capitol police arrested 155 activists for participating in “unlawful demonstration activities” at the offices of Republican lawmakers.14

History

Developing Obamacare

HCAN is a 501(c)(4) left-wing issue advocacy coalition created to promote passage of ObamaCare.

In 2007, left-wing activist Richard Kirsch approached USAction with a proposal to create a large coalition of liberal groups to advance a common vision of the changes they wished to make to American health insurance coverage. Once a vision was agreed upon, the goal was to sell it with a comprehensive advocacy campaign, beginning during the 2008 Presidential election. After the election of a friendly Democrat to the White House, the coalition would lobby to get its plan passed into law.15

Kirsch would become the national campaign manager. Three well-connected left-of-center activists became the coalition’s directors: Khalid Pitts, Jeff Blum and Barbara Coufal.

An early planning grant from the left-wing foundation Atlantic Philanthropies (the first of what would ultimately total $27 million in support from Atlantic through 2010) allowed HCAN to position itself as the leading left-of-center healthcare coalition when it was formally launched in July 2008.16 By that time HCAN had built a comprehensive alliance of hundreds of left-wing national partners. The list included some of the left’s most prominent advocacy organizations, such as MoveOn Civic Action (MoveOn.org) and the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAP Action) and highly influential labor unions such as the AFL-CIO, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).17

By July 2008, HCAN and its coalition members had produced a set of shared principles regarding the healthcare system changes they desired and an 860-page strategic plan fleshing out the political campaign needed for them to bring it about. The membership of the large network of left-of-center partners allowed HCAN to mobilize support, holding 53 events in 38 states.18

HCAN also began to behave as a political pressure group, spending $3.8 million on issue advocacy in five Congressional districts and one U.S. Senate race during October 2008. This built upon earlier work and spending dedicated to professional message testing, polling, and policy development, all of which gave HCAN experience with how to market their healthcare plan after President Barack Obama was inaugurated in 2009.19

After the election of President Obama, HCAN implemented its plan to sell the policy reform. This included both significant paid media and outreach from its coalition partners to elected officials. During the process of developing and then passing Obamacare, HCAN claims to have produced 873,000 supportive phone calls to members of Congress, 600,000 faxes, and also “thousands” of in-person visits to federal lawmakers. This direct contact from individuals to politicians complemented $20 million in paid media advertising, which accounted for 42.5 percent of the $47.2 million HCAN spent during its most active years from 2008-2010.20

The combined $23.8 million spent on paid media ($3.8 million during the 2008 election and then the $20 million spent during the campaign to pass Obamacare) accounted for half of HCAN’s 2008-2010 expenditures.

HCAN is widely credited with being a major player in creating and passing Obamacare. Right-of-center journalist Daniel Horowitz, who researches and writes about the influence of left-wing foundations on policy and politics, called HCAN the most successful of the coalitions contributing to passage of the law.21 Washington Post reporter Harold Pollack credited the organization with playing a “central role” in leading congressional leaders and staffers drafting the guts of Obamacare “before President Obama took office.”22

Beginning in 2010, HCAN shifted its agenda toward promoting the virtues of Obamacare and defending it from critics. Richard Kirsch stepped down from his full-time role as national campaign manager, but remained as an advisor. Ethan Rome was named executive director.23 Annual expenses for 2010 had dropped to $2.1 million, one-tenth of HCAN’s spending for each of the two prior years.24

Shutdown

HCAN shut down at the end of December 2013. In a January 2014 interview with the Washington Post, Kirsch said the organization had been founded with a single goal: To enact the coalition’s vision of changing healthcare coverage in America. With that accomplished in 2010, he said the HCAN leadership decided to keep it operating so as to “be sure what we’ve won really sticks.” By end of 2013, Kirsch was confident that Obamacare “is not going anyplace.”25

Restart and Recent Activity

In February 2017, following the inauguration of President Donald Trump, who as a candidate had promised to repeal Obamacare, Ethan Rome and Margarida Jorge co-wrote an editorial posted to MarketWatch.com that analyzed and criticized the Medicare policy contained in a Republican-led federal budget proposal. The editorial identified them as “co-directors” of HCAN and said the organization had “come back together to fight against efforts to repeal and undermine the law.”26

During July 2017, police at the U.S. Capitol arrested 155 demonstrators participating in what law enforcement described as “unlawful demonstration activities” taking place at 45 different locations inside Congressional office buildings. The Washington Post reported the activists were protesting the Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare, and HCAN was listed as one of the organizers of the rally that preceded the arrests. The newspaper said the plan had been to place 500 demonstrators within the offices of 52 Republican lawmakers – an illegal activity, according to police.27

Three of the four staff biographies posted on the HCAN website as of October 2018 are for Rome, Kirsh and Jorge, and each indicates current full-time employment outside of HCAN. The fourth staff biography is for Allison Kennedy, a former staffer for various political and policy campaigns, including those of Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D), and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D). No current title nor job description is indicated for Ms. Kennedy.28

The HCAN website continued to produce talking points and fact sheets through at least June 2018, as well as solicit activists and financial supporters. Prospective donors are informed that the HCAN Education Fund is now a “project” of the New Venture Fund—a left-leaning 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a $200 million annual giving budget.29 The Atlantic Philanthropies, source of HCAN’s start-up funding and by far the largest source of prior support, has announced it is closing down its giving and is on track to cease charitable operation by 2020.

While the original HCAN was dissolved after the 2010 passage of Obamacare, according to documents (available here) created by the liberal consulting firm Arabella Advisors, HCAN currently exists as a project of the 501(c)(4) advocacy group Sixteen Thirty Fund while the HCAN Education Fund is a project of the 501(c)(3) New Venture Fund. 30 Both groups are managed by Arabella Advisors and have been criticized as left-wing “dark money” organizations for the funding and fiscal sponsorship services they provide  to groups on the professional Left. Sixteen Thirty Fund also manages a number of pro-Obamacare projects aligned with HCAN, including Protect Our Care and Health Care Voter. 31

Leadership

Staff

Richard Kirsch is national campaign manager of HCAN, with a 2009 salary of $152,250.32 Prior to joining HCAN, he was the executive director of Citizen Action of New York, a left-wing community organizing group. After leaving HCAN, he became a senior fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, a left-wing think tank, and then in 2016 became director of Our Story – The Hub for American Narratives, a project of the Proteus Fund which helps left-wing organizations communicate their message.33

Ethan Rome was HCAN executive director, with a 2009 salary of $143,750.34 Prior to HCAN he was a national communications director for the AFSCME government worker union. After working with HCAN he became a consultant for organizations working on issues involving trade, healthcare and childcare.35 He also participated in the 2017 effort to revive HCAN.36

Avram Goldstein was the communications and research director of HCAN, with a 2009 salary of $125,000.37 Prior to HCAN he was a reporter for several mainstream newspapers. After working with HCAN he became a senior engagement officer at the California Health Care Foundation.38

Margarida Jorge is HCAN national field director, with a 2011 salary of $141,868.39 Prior to HCAN she worked with the SEIU, other labor unions, and left-wing organizations. Since working with HCAN, she has worked with several other left-wing organizations, such as PICO National Network, Working America, and Main Street Alliance.40 She also participated in the 2017 effort to revive HCAN.41

Board of Directors

Khalid Pitts was an uncompensated co-founder of and board member for HCAN.42 He is a partner at Democracy Partners, a left-wing political consulting firm, and has been a manager or board member of several left-wing organizations.

Jeff Blum was an uncompensated co-founder of and board member for HCAN.43 He is a co-founder and strategic advisor for the Center for International Policy and was the founding executive director of USAction.44
Barbara Coufal was an uncompensated co-founder and board member for HCAN. As of 2015 she was the assistant director for legislation at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).45

Controversies

Left-Leaning Fact-Checkers

A controversial September 2009 television spot released by HCAN in support of the developing Obamacare plan as it was moving through Congress was adjudged by left-leaning fact-checkers to be wrong in its two most critical points. PolitiFact admonished HCAN for exaggerating insurance CEO salaries and falsely claiming treatment denials were routine.

The left-leaning group Politifact ruled that the CEO salary cited by the advertisement ten times higher than the average for the industry at that time. PolitiFact observed that HCAN was cherry-picking the highest CEO salary available—one far above the average—and then portraying it as typical. They rated this claim “mostly false.”46

PolitiFact ruled the second statement—regarding denial of treatments—to be even more deceptive, finding both the source used by HCAN to be in error and much else to directly contradict it. It was ruled simply “false.”47

Funding

During the three years of most intense advocacy activity for HCAN (2008-2010), the organization raised $47.5 million and spent $47.2 million.48 Atlantic Philanthropies provided $27 million of this total, other foundations kicked in $6 million, the organizational partners contributed $9 million, and the remaining $6 million came from individual donors. An evaluation of the campaign covering this period, commissioned for and published by Atlantic Philanthropies, stated the fundraising had “almost unanimously” been “considered a disappointment.”49

Gara LaMarche, president and CEO of Atlantic Philanthropies from 2007-2011, was the motivation behind the organization’s large investment in HCAN. Before and since his time at Atlantic, he has worked with and for several left-wing policy and advocacy organizations. A biographer of Charles Feeney, the billionaire benefactor to Atlantic Philanthropies, has written that LaMarche’s 2011 departure from the organization was due in part to Mr. Feeney’s displeasure with the extent to which his money had been used for political advocacy.50

Sixteen Thirty Fund Project

While the original HCAN was dissolved after the 2010 passage of Obamacare, according to documents (available here) created by the liberal consulting firm Arabella Advisors, HCAN currently exists as a project of the 501(c)(4) advocacy group Sixteen Thirty Fund while the HCAN Education Fund is a project of the 501(c)(3) New Venture Fund. 51 Both groups are managed by Arabella Advisors and have been criticized as left-wing “dark money” organizations for the funding and fiscal sponsorship services they provide  to groups on the professional Left. Sixteen Thirty Fund also manages a number of pro-Obamacare projects aligned with HCAN, including Protect Our Care and Health Care Voter. 52

HCAN After-Action Report

Fundraising Struggles

An evaluation of HCAN commissioned by Atlantic Philanthropies (available here) and conducted by M+R Strategic Services concluded that the campaign struggled to fundraise beyond what it received from Atlantic Philanthropies, saying: 53

Fundraising for HCAN was almost unanimously considered a disappointment. This may seem strange to say in the context of a national advocacy campaign that raised more than $47 million, ($27 million came from The Atlantic Philanthropies, $6 million from other foundations, approximately $9 million from organizational partners, and the remaining $6 million from individual fundraising.) HCAN did attempt to aggressively fundraise. Still HCAN Evaluation: Executive Summary Page 11 the general consensus is that HCAN could have done a better job soliciting additional resources – especially from organizations, other foundations and individual donors.

The report further highlighted the potential problems this fundraising gap had for the goals of HCAN and Atlantic Philanthropies:

Now that reform has been signed into law, a small HCAN staff remains in D.C. and HCAN continues to play a convening and connecting role with state groups, but there are no longer funds available to contract with state field partners. While capacity can be built through many other channels, money is usually what keeps an organization viable and at this point it is not clear what type of resources HCAN will have going forward. Given that building progressive field infrastructure was a secondary though important goal, there is some feeling that there should have been a transition plan ready to implement at the campaign’s conclusion.

Effectiveness

The evaluation further reported on what it saw was most and least effective about HCAN’s strategy. According to the report: 54

Across evaluation interviews, a general consensus emerged that one of the more successful aspects of HCAN’s 2008 work was the “Which side are you on?” strategy. The goals of this strategy were to: demonstrate a clear mandate for real change on health care; keep health care reform a top priority on the national agenda; frame the health care debate for voters; and systematically challenge members of Congress to pick their side on health care reform.

The report also focused on HCAN’s “Star District effort,” where the campaign used TV, mail, and in-person field work to both change the attitudes of voters and politicians in the lead-up to the 2008 elections and to develop a campaign infrastructure for the future. The analysis states that HCAN moved progressively towards anti-insurance industry rhetoric:

HCAN’s increased focus on the anti-insurance narrative was part of a deliberate effort to narrow the organization’s message focus on creating a public enemy. This included adding anti-insurance actions to the field program and creating greater alignment between the messaging of the field and national earned and paid media communications.

The evaluation wrote that “HCAN spent significant resources, about $3.8 million across six races, proving that serious investment is required to make an impact.” While the report was positive about HCAN’s field operations and its acquirement of people with personal healthcare-related stories in support of Obamacare, it viewed the $20 million in paid media as “not sufficient to compete with opponents or substantially change the narrative. Instead, its objective was to influence discrete targets, including Congressional leadership and individual members.”

HCAN apparently struggled to appeal to diverse communities, saying “consistently, interviewees noted room for improvement in the coalition’s work among communities of color, seniors, and with groups representing children.” While certain members at HCAN reported that the campaign used its partner organizations to reach out to alternate communities, the overall campaign did not make the progress it was hoping for.

References

  1. Pollack, Harold. “The group that got health reform passed is declaring victory and going home.” Washington Post. January 5, 2014. Accessed October 5, 2018. 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=.18f6e66a21d7
  2. Horowitz, Daniel. “How the left and progressive foundations gave us ObamaCare — a law hated by so many.” FoxNews. May 7, 2015. Accessed October 5, 2018. https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/how-the-left-and-progressive-foundations-gave-us-obamacare-a-law-hated-by-so-many
  3. “Saving the Social Safety Net: Advocacy Lessons for Funders.” Arabella Advisors. Accessed January 15, 2019. https://ncg.org/sites/default/files/resources/Jessica%20Love%20Robinson%20Presentation.pdf; document available here: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2019/01/Arabella-Healthcare-Campaign-presentation_1630-fund-new-venture-fund.pdf
  4. Hayden Ludwig. “Exposing Obamacare’s Support Network.” Capital Research Center. December 28, 2018. Accessed January 15, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/article/exposing-obamacares-support-network/
  5. Pollack, Harold. “The group that got health reform passed is declaring victory and going home.” Washington Post. January 5, 2014. Accessed October 5, 2018. 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=.18f6e66a21d7
  6. “Who We Are.” Health Care for America Now. December 10, 2010. Accessed from the original on October 3, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20110721160315/http://healthcareforamericanow.org/site/content/who_we_are/
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  9. Grassroots Solutions and M+R Strategic Services. “HCAN Evaluation: Executive Summary.” Atlantic Philanthropies. September 10, 2010. Accessed October 5, 2018. https://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/HCAN_Executive_Summary.pdf
  10. Jacobson, Louis. “Health care advocacy group blasts insurers for CEO pay packages.” PolitiFact. September 16, 2009. Accessed October 4, 2018. https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/sep/16/health-care-america-now/health-care-advocacy-group-blasts-insurers-ceo-pay/
  11. Jacobson, Louis. “TV ad overstates health insurance denials.” PolitiFact. September 18, 2009. Accessed October 4, 2018. https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/sep/18/health-care-america-now/tv-ad-overstates-health-insurance-denials/
  12. Pollack, Harold. “The group that got health reform passed is declaring victory and going home.” Washington Post. January 5, 2014. Accessed October 5, 2018. 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=.18f6e66a21d7
  13. Jorge, Margarida; and Ethan Rome. “Opinion: Seniors will pay the price for Trump’s Medicare cuts.” MarketWatch.com. February 18, 2017. Accessed October 4, 2018. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/seniors-will-pay-the-price-for-trumps-medicare-cuts-2018-02-14
  14. Williams, Clarence. “Police arrest 155 health care protesters at U.S. Capitol.” Washington Post. July 19, 2017. Accessed October 3, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/police-arrest-155-health-care-protesters-at-us-capitol/2017/07/19/c6a04286-6cd4-11e7-96ab-5f38140b38cc_story.html?utm_term=.861580c05058
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  16. Pollack, Harold. “The group that got health reform passed is declaring victory and going home.” Washington Post. January 5, 2014. Accessed October 5, 2018. 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=.18f6e66a21d7
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  18. Pollack, Harold. “The group that got health reform passed is declaring victory and going home.” Washington Post. January 5, 2014. Accessed October 5, 2018. 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=.18f6e66a21d7
  19. Grassroots Solutions and M+R Strategic Services. “HCAN Evaluation: Executive Summary.” Atlantic Philanthropies. September 10, 2010. Accessed October 5, 2018. https://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/HCAN_Executive_Summary.pdf
  20. Grassroots Solutions and M+R Strategic Services. “HCAN Evaluation: Executive Summary.” Atlantic Philanthropies. September 10, 2010. Accessed October 5, 2018. https://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/HCAN_Executive_Summary.pdf
  21. Horowitz, Daniel. “How the left and progressive foundations gave us ObamaCare — a law hated by so many.” FoxNews. May 7, 2015. Accessed October 5, 2018. https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/how-the-left-and-progressive-foundations-gave-us-obamacare-a-law-hated-by-so-many
  22. Pollack, Harold. “The group that got health reform passed is declaring victory and going home.” Washington Post. January 5, 2014. Accessed October 5, 2018. 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=.18f6e66a21d7
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  26. Jorge, Margarida; and Ethan Rome. “Opinion: Seniors will pay the price for Trump’s Medicare cuts.” MarketWatch.com. February 18, 2017. Accessed October 4, 2018. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/seniors-will-pay-the-price-for-trumps-medicare-cuts-2018-02-14
  27. Williams, Clarence. “Police arrest 155 health care protesters at U.S. Capitol.” Washington Post. July 19, 2017. Accessed October 3, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/police-arrest-155-health-care-protesters-at-us-capitol/2017/07/19/c6a04286-6cd4-11e7-96ab-5f38140b38cc_story.html?utm_term=.861580c05058
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  37. Health Care for America Now, IRS Form 990, 2009. Accessed October 5, 2018. http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2011_03_EO/35-2332813_990O_201006.pdf
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  41. Jorge, Margarida; and Ethan Rome. “Opinion: Seniors will pay the price for Trump’s Medicare cuts.” MarketWatch.com. February 18, 2017. Accessed October 4, 2018. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/seniors-will-pay-the-price-for-trumps-medicare-cuts-2018-02-14
  42. Health Care for America Now, IRS Form 990, 2009. Accessed October 5, 2018. http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2011_03_EO/35-2332813_990O_201006.pdf
  43. Health Care for America Now, IRS Form 990, 2009. Accessed October 5, 2018. http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2011_03_EO/35-2332813_990O_201006.pdf
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  45. “AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE COUNTY & MUNICIPAL EMPLOYE (AFSCME): Barbara Coufal.” Unionfacts.org. Accessed October 5, 2018. https://www.unionfacts.com/employee/American_Federation_of_State_County_%2526_Municipal_Employe/BARBARA/COUFAL
  46. Jacobson, Louis. “Health care advocacy group blasts insurers for CEO pay packages.” PolitiFact. September 16, 2009. Accessed October 4, 2018. https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/sep/16/health-care-america-now/health-care-advocacy-group-blasts-insurers-ceo-pay/
  47. Jacobson, Louis. “TV ad overstates health insurance denials.” PolitiFact. September 18, 2009. Accessed October 4, 2018. https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/sep/18/health-care-america-now/tv-ad-overstates-health-insurance-denials/
  48. “Health Care for America Now: Yearly Stats.” Opensecrets.org. Accessed October 5, 2018. https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/political-nonprofits/yearly_stats?id=352332813
  49. Grassroots Solutions and M+R Strategic Services. “HCAN Evaluation: Executive Summary.” Atlantic Philanthropies. September 10, 2010. Accessed October 5, 2018.https://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/HCAN_Executive_Summary.pdf
  50. O’Clery, Conor. The Billionaire Who Wasn’t. New York: PublicAffairs, 2013. Google books. https://books.google.com/books?id=Uc0PAAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22the+billionaire+who+wasn%27t%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjbo-eft_zdAhWlTd8KHWxNCjUQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=%22the%20billionaire%20who%20wasn’t%22&f=false
  51. “Saving the Social Safety Net: Advocacy Lessons for Funders.” Arabella Advisors. Accessed January 15, 2019. https://ncg.org/sites/default/files/resources/Jessica%20Love%20Robinson%20Presentation.pdf; document available here: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2019/01/Arabella-Healthcare-Campaign-presentation_1630-fund-new-venture-fund.pdf
  52. Hayden Ludwig. “Exposing Obamacare’s Support Network.” Capital Research Center. December 28, 2018. Accessed January 15, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/article/exposing-obamacares-support-network/
  53. “HCAN Evaluation: Executive Summary.” The Atlantic Philanthropies. https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2019/01/HCAN_Executive_Summary-Atlantic-Philanthropies-2015.pdf
  54. “HCAN Evaluation: Executive Summary.” The Atlantic Philanthropies. https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2019/01/HCAN_Executive_Summary-Atlantic-Philanthropies-2015.pdf

Directors, Employees & Supporters

  1. Jeff Blum
    Founder and Former Co-Chair (2007-2013)
  2. Khalid Pitts
    Co-Founder
  3. Richard Kirsch
    Former National Campaign Manager
  4. Brad Woodhouse
    Former Steering Committee Member

Coalition Members

  1. 9to5, National Association of Working Women (Non-profit)
  2. American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) (Labor Union)
  3. Alliance for Retired Americans (Non-profit)
  4. American Family Voices (Non-profit)
  5. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) (Labor Union)
  6. American Federation of Teachers (AFT) (Labor Union)
  7. American Nurses Association (Non-profit)
  8. Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) (Non-profit)
  9. Americans United for Change (AUFC) (Non-profit)
  10. Brave New Films (Non-profit)
  11. Alliance for Youth Organizing (Non-profit)
  12. Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAP Action) (Non-profit)
  13. Center for Community Change (CCC) (Non-profit)
  14. Center for Rural Affairs (Non-profit)
  15. Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) (Non-profit)
  16. Communications Workers of America (CWA) (Labor Union)
  17. Democracy for America (Political Party/527)
  18. Human Rights Campaign (Non-profit)
  19. Jobs With Justice (JWJ) (Non-profit)
  20. Leadership Center for the Common Good (Non-profit)
  21. Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (LCCHR) (Non-profit)
  22. League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) (Non-profit)
  23. MoveOn Civic Action (MoveOn.org) (Non-profit)
  24. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) (Non-profit)
  25. National Abortion Federation (NAF) (Non-profit)
  26. National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) (Non-profit)
  27. National Community Action Foundation (NCAF) (Non-profit)
  28. National Consumers League (Non-profit)
  29. National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) (Non-profit)
  30. National Education Association (NEA) (Labor Union)
  31. National Partnership for Women and Families (NPWF) (Non-profit)
  32. National Women’s Law Center (Non-profit)
  33. Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) (Non-profit)
  34. Progressive States Network (PSN) (Non-profit)
  35. ProgressNow (Non-profit)
  36. Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) (Non-profit)
  37. Rock the Vote (Non-profit)
  38. Roosevelt Institute (Non-profit)
  39. Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law (Non-profit)
  40. Service Employees International Union (SEIU) (Labor Union)
  41. Texas Organizing Project (TOP) (Non-profit)
  42. TrueMajority (Non-profit)
  43. U.S. Public Interest Research Group (US-PIRG) (Non-profit)
  44. UnidosUS (formerly National Council of La Raza) (Non-profit)
  45. United Auto Workers (UAW) (Labor Union)
  46. United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) (Labor Union)
  47. USAction (Non-profit)
  48. Women’s Voices Women Vote Action Fund (WVWVAF) (Non-profit)
  49. Working America (Labor Union)
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Health Care for America Now (HCAN)

1825 K Street NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20006