Save My Care is a center-left healthcare advocacy coalition based in Washington, D.C. and a project of the New Venture Fund, a 501(c)(3) funding and fiscal sponsorship organization headed by Democratic Party operative Eric Kessler, the president of Save My Care. Kessler also serves as founder and principal of Arabella Advisors, a Washington, D.C.-based consultancy that manages New Venture Fund and its 501(c)(4) lobbying affiliate, the Sixteen Thirty Fund. ^{1 2}

Save My Care was formed in 2016 to lobby against efforts by congressional Republicans to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. The group conducted a nationwide bus tour in 2017 and ran ads in 2017 and 2018 in opposition to efforts by Republican members of Congress to repeal Obamacare.

Save My Care

Save My Care is a fiscally sponsored project of Save My Country Action Fund. The project advocates for left-of-center health care policy, especially defending the Affordable Care Act. The project spends a considerable amount of its funding on ad campaigns attacking Republican elected officials. It has a large social media presence and runs ads on platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. ³

Leadership

The president of Save My Care is Eric Kessler, a former Clinton administration appointee who oversaw conservation matters. Kessler is also the principal of Arabella Advisors. The organization is run out of the same offices as the New Venture Fund. ⁴

Brad Woodhouse is the executive director for Save My Country Action Fund. ⁵ Woodhouse has a long work history as an executive for organizations with close ties to the Democratic Party, and numerous roles within the Democratic Party itself. Notably, Woodhouse worked as communications director for the Democratic National Committee and for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. He worked as the executive director for Protect Our Care and as executive director for American Bridge 21^st Century Foundation, an anti-Republican advocacy organization, also serving as president of the organization’s associated PAC. ⁶

The chairman of Save My Care is Leslie Dach. ⁷ Dach is the former executive director of Protect Our Care. Before that, Dach was an adviser to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and served as a counselor to the Health and Human Services Department under the Barack Obama administration. In that role, she helped to implement Obamacare.

Political Activism

2017 Bus Tour

In 2017, the organization launched a nationwide bus tour with other left-wing groups to oppose efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare. The bus tour traveled to twenty states over two months. The groups that supported the bus tour were the Alliance for Healthcare Security, Doctors For America, the Service Employees International Union, and Protect Our Care (a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a 501(c)(4) “sister” affiliate to New Venture Fund). ⁸

The tour hosted rallies that featured elected officials, activists, and people who claim they have been helped by Obamacare. It also encouraged supporters to contact lawmakers through phone calls, emails, and Twitter. ⁹

People on the bus tour claimed that repealing Obamacare would kill people. “If extreme right-wing Republicans get their way, tens of millions of working Americans will have to choose between paying for their children’s inhalers, and paying their heating bills.” said Debra Friedland, a SEIU member and nurse in the official press release announcing the tour. ¹⁰

Advertisement Campaigns

In April 2017, Save My Care launched a $1 million ad campaign against seven House Republicans who were being targeted by Democrats. The ad alleged that the lawmakers supported legislation that would raise health insurance premiums and result in a loss of coverage. ¹¹

One of the claims in the ad was that the Republican repeal proposal would allow insurance companies to charge people over 50 years old five times more than younger people. The fact-checking website Politifact rated the claim “half-true.” ¹²

In May 2017, Save My Care launched a TV and digital advertisement campaign worth over a $500,000 against 24 House Republicans for their vote to repeal Obamacare. The ad accused the Republicans of supporting a bill that increased costs and would take away coverage from millions. The ad also touted the opposition to the Republicans bill from the AARP and American Medical Association, which lobbied for and benefit from the existing Obamacare structure. ¹³

In January 2018, Save My Care launched an advertisement campaign to coincide with the State of The Union address. The ads aired in Washington D.C., West Virginia, Alaska, and Maine. The ads were titled “Stop The Republican War On Healthcare.” ¹⁴

In February 2018, Save My Care partnered with Protect Our Care to make a six-figure ad buy in seven states: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Maine, Nevada, Ohio and Tennessee to target supporters of Obamacare repeal. The two groups announced plans to hold “Enough Is Enough” events throughout the year. ¹⁵

Ties to Other Organizations

One of the leading vendors for Save My Care was Bully Pulpit Interactive. The vendor helped the group mobilize activists to call Congress and oppose Obamacare repeal. ¹⁶

The left-wing groups Organizing for Action and Planned Parenthood helped publicize Save My Care events. ^17 18

1. Sherman, Amy. “GOP health care bill charges five times more for people over 50, liberal group says.” PolitiFact. May 11, 2017. Accessed January 4, 2019. https://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2017/may/11/save-my-care/gop-health-care-bill-charges-five-times-more-peopl/
2. Ludwig, Hayden. 2019. “Who Is Behind The Groups Pushing Obamacare?”. Capital Research Center. https://capitalresearch.org/article/who-is-behind-the-groups-pushing-obamacare/.
3. Influence Watch Profile: Save My Care. Accessed December 11, 2020. https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/save-my-care/
4. Sherman, Amy. 2017. “Does Health Care Bill Charge Five Times More For Seniors?”. Politifact. https://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2017/may/11/save-my-care/gop-health-care-bill-charges-five-times-more-peopl/.
5. “Save My Country Action Fund.” OpenCorporates.com. Accessed November 28, 2020. https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_dc/EXTUID_4242319
6. “Brad Woodhouse.” Influence Watch. Accessed November 28, 2020. https://www.influencewatch.org/person/brad-woodhouse/
7. Swanson, Mark. 2018. “Pro-Obamacare Group Targets GOP In Ad Campaign Ahead Of SOTU”. Newsmax. https://www.newsmax.com/politics/save-my-care-state-of-the-union-obamacare-healthcare/2018/01/29/id/840111/.
8. Eilperin, Juliet. 2017. “A Cross-Country Bus Tour Aims To Help Save The Endangered Affordable Care Act”. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-cross-country-bus-tour-aims-to-help-save-the-endangered-affordable-care-act/2017/01/15/7fa1a71a-db3b-11e6-ad42-f3375f271c9c_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e8b59bb1006a.
9. Eilperin, Juliet. 2017. “A Cross-Country Bus Tour Aims To Help Save The Endangered Affordable Care Act”. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-cross-country-bus-tour-aims-to-help-save-the-endangered-affordable-care-act/2017/01/15/7fa1a71a-db3b-11e6-ad42-f3375f271c9c_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e8b59bb1006a.
10. Save My Care. 2017. “NATIONWIDE “SAVE MY CARE” BUS TOUR LAUNCHES TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST REPUBLICANS’ RUSH TO TAKE HEALTH CARE AWAY FROM 30 MILLION AMERICANS”. http://www.savemycare.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/SMC_11.16.17_CareBus-3.pdf.
11. DeBonis, Mike. 2017. “Seven House Republicans Face TV Ad Attacks Over Health Care”. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/04/10/seven-house-republicans-face-tv-ad-attacks-over-health-care/?utm_term=.9a99f8c3c925.
12. Sherman, Amy. 2017. “Does Health Care Bill Charge Five Times More For Seniors?”. Politifact. https://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2017/may/11/save-my-care/gop-health-care-bill-charges-five-times-more-peopl/.
13. Pathé, Simone. 2017. “24 House Republicans Face Attacks Over Health Care Vote”. Roll Call. http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/health-care-house-republicans-ads.
14. Swanson, Mark. 2018. “Pro-Obamacare Group Targets GOP In Ad Campaign Ahead Of SOTU”. Newsmax. https://www.newsmax.com/politics/save-my-care-state-of-the-union-obamacare-healthcare/2018/01/29/id/840111/.
15. King, Robert. 2018. “Obamacare Allies Plot Campaign To Punish Advocates Of Repeal”. Washington Examiner. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/obamacare-allies-plot-campaign-to-punish-advocates-of-repeal.
16. “Save My Care”. 2019. Bully Pulpit Interactive. Accessed March 10, 2019. http://bpimedia.com/project/save-my-care.
17.  “Save Our Care Bus Tour Rally At Capitol-Sacramento (PPAC)”. 2019. Planned Parenthood Events. Accessed March 10, 2019. https://plannedparenthoodevents.ngpvanhost.com/ngpvanforms/32478.
18. Save My Care Bus Tour”. 2019. Organizing For Action. Accessed March 10, 2019. https://my.ofa.us/page/event/detail/affordablecareactcommunityoutreach/gsfm2r.