Docs 4 Patient Care Foundation
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Learn more about how the State Policy Network aids ALEC and spins disinformation in the states. |
The Docs 4 Patient Care Foundation (D4PC) is a right-wing 501(c)3 nonprofit and associate member of the State Policy Network (SPN) that pushes a free market view on healthcare.[1] "The foundation's mission is to preserve the sanctity of the physician-patient relationship, promote quality care, support affordable access to care for all Americans and to protect the patient's personal health decisions."[2]
D4PC originated as a 527 advocacy group in 2009 formed to oppose the Affordable Care Act. The group became a 501(c)6 in 2010 then eventually converted into the 501(c)3 Docs 4 Patient Care Foundation in 2014. "As a 501(c)6 organization, D4PC’s constituency was mostly limited to physicians. By transitioning to a 501(c)3, D4PCF can now reach a much broader audience including non-physician health care professionals, legislators and policymakers, journalists, business leaders, and individual citizens."[3]
The organization broadcasts a weekly radio program, The Doctor's Lounge, hosts conferences and publishes articles, papers and op-eds. According its 2016-2019 strategic plan, Docs 4 Patient Care Foundation has collaborated with a number of right-wing organizations including the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), American Enterprise Institute (AEI), the Heartland Institute, the Mackinac Center, Benjamin Rush Institute, the James Madison Institute and the Steamboat Institute.[3]
State Policy Network
SPN is a web of right-wing “think tanks” and tax-exempt organizations in 50 states, Washington, D.C., Canada, and the United Kingdom. As of April 2023, SPN's membership totals 163. Today's SPN is the tip of the spear of far-right, nationally funded policy agenda in the states that undergirds extremists in the Republican Party. SPN Executive Director Tracie Sharp told the Wall Street Journal in 2017 that the revenue of the combined groups was some $80 million, but a 2022 analysis of SPN's main members IRS filings by the Center for Media and Democracy shows that the combined revenue is over $152 million.[4] Although SPN's member organizations claim to be nonpartisan and independent, the Center for Media and Democracy's in-depth investigation, "EXPOSED: The State Policy Network -- The Powerful Right-Wing Network Helping to Hijack State Politics and Government," reveals that SPN and its member think tanks are major drivers of the right-wing, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)-backed corporate agenda in state houses nationwide, with deep ties to the Koch brothers and the national right-wing network of funders.[5]
In response to CMD's report, SPN Executive Director Tracie Sharp told national and statehouse reporters that SPN affiliates are "fiercely independent." Later the same week, however, The New Yorker's Jane Mayer caught Sharp in a contradiction. In her article, "Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement?," the Pulitzer-nominated reporter revealed that, in a recent meeting behind closed doors with the heads of SPN affiliates around the country, Sharp "compared the organization’s model to that of the giant global chain IKEA." She reportedly said that SPN "would provide 'the raw materials,' along with the 'services' needed to assemble the products. Rather than acting like passive customers who buy finished products, she wanted each state group to show the enterprise and creativity needed to assemble the parts in their home states. 'Pick what you need,' she said, 'and customize it for what works best for you.'" Not only that, but Sharp "also acknowledged privately to the members that the organization's often anonymous donors frequently shape the agenda. 'The grants are driven by donor intent,' she told the gathered think-tank heads. She added that, often, 'the donors have a very specific idea of what they want to happen.'"[6]
A set of coordinated fundraising proposals obtained and released by The Guardian in early December 2013 confirm many of these SPN members' intent to change state laws and policies, referring to "advancing model legislation" and "candidate briefings." These activities "arguably cross the line into lobbying," The Guardian notes.[7]
Core Financials
2015[8]
- Total Revenue: $247,775
- Total Expenses: $236,957
- Net Assets: $12,952
2014[9]
- Total Revenue: $227,715
- Total Expenses: $225,581
- Net Assets: $2,134
Personnel
Board of Directors
As of March 13, 2017:[10]
- Lee Gross, President
- Mike Koriwchak, Vice President
- Hal Scherz, Secretary
- Richard (Dick) Armstrong, Treasurer
- Ori Hampel
- Beth Haynes
Contact
Employer Identification Number (EIN): 46-4752703
Docs 4 Patient Care Foundation
1210 N. Maple Road
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103
Email: info@d4pcfoundation.org
Phone: (267).788.1170
Phone: (888).788.5515
Website: https://d4pcfoundation.org/
Twitter: @D4PCFDN
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/docs4pc
References
- ↑ State Policy Network, Directory, organizational website, accessed March 13, 2017.
- ↑ Docs 4 Patient Care, Home, organizational website, accessed March 13, 2017.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Docs 4 Patient Care, Strategic Plan 2016-2019, Docs 4 Patient Care, accessed March 13, 2017.
- ↑ David Armiak, State Policy Network and Affiliates Raises $152 Million Annually to Push Right-Wing Policies, ExposedbyCMD, September 30, 2022.
- ↑ Rebekah Wilce, Center for Media and Democracy, EXPOSED: The State Policy Network -- The Powerful Right-Wing Network Helping to Hijack State Politics and Government, organizational report, November 13, 2013.
- ↑ Jane Mayer, Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement?, The New Yorker, November 15, 2013.
- ↑ Ed Pilkington and Suzanne Goldenberg, State conservative groups plan US-wide assault on education, health and tax, The Guardian, December 5, 2013.
- ↑ Docs 4 Patient Care Foundation, 2015 IRS Form 990, Internal Revenue Service, July 15, 2016.
- ↑ Docs 4 Patient Care Foundation, 2014 IRS Form 990, Internal Revenue Service, May 13, 2015.
- ↑ Docs 4 Patient Care Foundation, Board of Directors, organizational website, accessed March 13, 2017.
