Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative Education Fund

Activities

The Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative Education Fund, along with its sister group Health Care for All, was founded in 1999 by Vincent DeMarco and Peter Beilenson to advocate for universal taxpayer-funded health care coverage in Maryland. According to the group’s research, 15 percent of Maryland’s population was uninsured at the time. ^{1 2}

By 2000, both the Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative Education Fund and Health Care for All had registered as nonprofits with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). That year, the organization had gathered 500 members. By 2002, membership surpassed 2,000. ¹

In 2013, the MCHIEF ran an ad campaign worth $400,000 to encourage enrollment in Maryland health care plans. ³

Members

Health Care for All‘s membership consists of left-of-center advocacy groups, religious organizations, and labor unions. Several of these groups include Jews United for Justice, the Baltimore Jewish Council, the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church, the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of Maryland, Climate-XChange, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Maryland Rise, AFSCME Council 3, 1199 SEIU, AHEC West, Maryland Latinos Unidos, Kaiser Permanente, the Maryland Legislative Coalition, the Women’s Law Center of Maryland, NAACP Maryland, the NAACP Maryland State Conference, the Public Justice Center, AIDS Action Baltimore Inc., the Maryland Legislative Agenda for Women, and the Community Development Network of Maryland. ¹

Leadership

Vincent DeMarco is the co-founder of Health Care for All and has served as the organization’s president since its founding. He is also the president of Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence and played a role in the passage of the Firearm Safety Act of 2013 which banned certain rifles and required the licensing of handgun purchasers in the state. DeMarco has been involved in political activism since the 1980s when he worked for an organization promoting a balanced budget amendment in the Maryland Constitution and then joined Marylanders against Hand Gun Abuse. Later, he joined the Maryland Children’s Initiative to advocate for higher taxes on tobacco products. ^{4 5} In 2022, DeMarco received a salary of $151,572 from HCA. ⁶

Peter Beilenson co-founded HCA but is no longer affiliated with the organization. Since 1995, he has worked as an associate faculty member at Johns Hopkins University. From 2012 to 2017, he also worked as the chief executive officer of the Evergreen Health Co-op. From 2007 to 2012, Beilenson was a health officer at the Howard County Health Department. In 2006, Beilenson ran for U.S. Congress and lost in the Democratic primary. ^{1 7 8}

Darrell Gaskin is the vice president of MCHIEF and has been a professor at Johns Hopkins University for over 14 years. ⁹

Glenn Schneider is the treasurer of MCHIEF and has worked at the Horizon Foundation since 2011. From 2000 to 2007, Schneider served as the executive director of MCHIEF. Earlier, he worked for the Smoke Free Maryland Coalition. ¹⁰

Funding

The Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative Education Fund has received financial support from left-of-center foundations including Arnold Ventures, the Baltimore Community Foundation, the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, the Community Voices Project, the Consumer Health Foundation, the Hopewell Fund, the Horizon Foundation, the Public Welfare Foundation, and the Zanvyl and Isabelle Kreiger Fund. ¹¹

In 2021, the MCHIEF received a $150,000 grant from the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation. ¹²

In 2019, the MCHIEF received a $75,000 grant from the Abell Foundation. ¹³

Also in 2019, the MCHIEF received a $75,000 grant from the Open Society Institute Baltimore as part of its addiction and health equity program. ¹⁴

In 2016, the MCHIEF received a grant from the Proteus Fund. ¹⁵