Keep Iowa Healthy is a left-of-center health care advocacy project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a funding and sponsorship organization managed by Arabella Advisors, a consultancy based in Washington, D.C. that caters to left-leaning advocacy and political clients.

Background

Keep Iowa Healthy’s website was copyrighted in 2017 and its first post appears on August 2, 2017.

Activities

In August 2017, Keep Iowa Healthy published a post on its website reporting that the project had “joined” a rally outside the Iowa Capitol building in Des Moines, protesting Republican-led attempts at healthcare reform and in support of the Affordable Care Act (popularly known as “Obamacare”). However, neither in the text of the post nor in any of the images within it are there any members, staff, or volunteers of Keep Iowa Healthy identified as physically taking part in the protest. ¹

In October 2017, Keep Iowa Healthy produced a 30-second ad attacking then-U.S. Representative Rod Blum (R-IA) for supporting a bill that would have repealed the Affordable Care Act. The ad, titled “Two Prices,” which featured an unidentified narrator, alleged that the bill would raise healthcare costs for Iowa residents. ²

In November 2017, a post on Keep Iowa Healthy’s website reports that it “hosted” a “Veterans Listening Post” at Karma Coffee. Though the post identifies several attendees, it does not identify any staff member or representative of Keep Iowa Healthy as attending, organizing, or speaking at the event. ³⁴

In June 2018, Keep Iowa Healthy produced another television advertisement attacking Representative Blum (R-IA) for supporting a bill that would have repealed the Affordable Care Act. The 30-second ad featured Robin Stone, a resident of Manchester, Iowa. Additionally, the project produced a second version of the ad, which ran for a full minute. Both ads were aired on television in Blum’s congressional district. Neither ad is publically available on Keep Iowa Healthy’s YouTube page. However, they are accessible as ‘unlisted’ videos through links in a related post on Keep Iowa Healthy’s website. ⁵⁶⁷

The Sixteen Thirty Fund

Keep Iowa Healthy is a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund (sometimes written out as the “1630 Fund”), a left-progressive lobbying, funding, and advocacy organization managed by Arabella Advisers, a Washington, DC based consultancy firm that caters to left-leaning clients. Among its other activities, the Fund manages dozens of projects, which appear to be independent organizations despite not being registered in their own right. These organizations, as with Keep Iowa Healthy, typically do not list staff members, have independent offices, or engage in regular and consistent activity. ⁸ Organizations known to be such projects of the Fund include Colorado United for Families, Arizonans United for Health Care, Floridians for a Fair Shake, For Our Families, Michigan Families for Economic Prosperity, and Michigan Families for Opportunity. ⁹¹⁰

1. “Iowans Rally to Protect Health Care, Join 170 Rallies Across the Country.” August 2, 2017. Accessed June 20, 2020. https://www.keepiowahealthy.org/single-post/2017/08/17/Its-time-to-see-your-doctor
2. “Two Prices.” YouTube: Keep Iowa Healthy. October 11, 2017. Accessed June 20, 2020.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ4zMc2g4Zw
3. “Two Prices.” Keep Iowa Healthy. October 11, 2017. Accessed June 20, 2020. https://www.keepiowahealthy.org/single-post/2017/10/11/Two-Prices
4. “Keep Iowa Healthy Hosts Veterans Listening Post.” Keep Iowa Healthy. November 13, 2017. Accessed June 20, 2020. https://www.keepiowahealthy.org/single-post/2017/11/13/Keep-Iowa-Healthy-Hosts-Veterans-Listening-Post
5. “Blum’s health care votes hit Iowa families.” Keep Iowa Healthy. June 26, 2018. Accessed June 20, 2020. https://www.keepiowahealthy.org/single-post/2018/06/26/Blum%E2%80%99s-health-care-votes-hit-Iowa-families
6. “Didn’t Ask :30.” YouTube: Keep Iowa Healthy. June 14, 2018. Accessed June 20, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf0JuXhz1CQ&feature=youtu.be
7. “Didn’t Ask :60.” YouTube: Keep Iowa Healthy. June 14, 2018. Accessed June 20, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2BG2gRl-T0&feature=youtu.be
8. Ludwig, Hayden. “Big Money in Dark Shadows: Arabella Advisors’ Half-billion-dollar ‘Dark Money’ Network.” Capital Research Center (DarkMoneyATM.org). Accessed June 20, 2020. https://darkmoneyatm.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/CRC_Arabella-Advisors-Dark-Money_small.pdf
9. Bland, Scott; Maggie Severns. “Documents reveal massive ‘dark-money’ group boosted Democrats in 2018.” Politico. Novemeber 11, 2019. Accessed June 22, 2020. https://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/19/dark-money-democrats-midterm-071725
10. “Sixteen Thirty Fund.” OpenCorporates. Accessed June 20, 2020. https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_dc/EXTUID_2696217