Committee to Protect Health Care

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The Committee to Protect Health Care: (CTP)—formerly known as the Committee to Protect Medicare—is a national health care advocacy organization. CTP says that it "aims to amplify medical professionals’ voices as champions for quality, affordable coverage for all Americans." CTP has members nationwide.

In June 2022, it launched its Reproductive Freedom Taskforce, as first announced in the Washington Post, which said, "The Committee to Protect Health Care, an advocacy coalition of health-care professionals, this morning launched a new Reproductive Freedom Taskforce to protect and expand abortion access.

The coalition of health-care providers, attorneys, and elected officials will tell the public about what it believes are the consequences of limiting access to the procedure and work to elect abortion rights candidates at all levels of government.

The launch of the task force comes before the Supreme Court is set to issue a ruling in a Mississippi abortion case that may overturn Roe v. Wade’s decades-old protections. More than 2,500 health-care professionals also released an open letter urging the Supreme Court's justices to uphold the right to an abortion.

The letter urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the right to an abortion received attention from Ms. Magazine, which said,

"Any day now, the Supreme Court will issue its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which many predict will overturn or severely gut Roe v. Wade. Since the start of the Dobbs v. Jackson hearings in December, medical professionals have warned of the drastic health impacts brought on by abortion bans. Now, over 2,500 healthcare professionals from all 50 states have signed a letter urging the Supreme Court to scrap their leaked Dobbs draft opinion and uphold Roe. 

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The letter, titled “Medical Professionals Urge Supreme Court to Uphold Roe v. Wade, Protect Abortion Access,” argues that decisions around pregnancy and abortion should be made by patients and their doctors, not the courts.

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Earlier this month, the Committee to Protect Health Care, which sponsored the open letter, launched their Reproductive Freedom Taskforce to preserve and expand access to reproductive healthcare."

It was also covered by Newsweek, which reported:

"But the Court's decision does not only impact women's ability to terminate a pregnancy; Restrictive abortion laws can have life-threatening consequences for people with a range of medical conditions, including past miscarriages and cancers during pregnancy, doctors have warned.

'Forcing people who have chronic illnesses, have had a miscarriage, or have been diagnosed with a serious medical condition to carry a pregnancy to term against their will could have life-threatening consequences,' said an open letter, organized by the Committee to Protect Health Care."

CTP seeks to participate in state-level advocacy as well. In August 2021, more than 800 physician members called on Florida’s Gov. DeSantis to allow local school boards to employ mask mandates to prevent virus spread in classrooms. According to the Florida Politics article on the action:

“The letter campaign was organized by the Committee to Protect Health Care, a group formed to push back against Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The organization now pushes for additional expansion of Medicaid and other government health care programs. The organization has opposed DeSantis’ handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the past. Now, with many Florida students returning to the classroom this week, the group is spotlighting DeSantis’ decision to block local mask mandates."

The Committee to Protect Health Care commissioned a poll in September 2021 of Florida voters showing that most agreed local school districts should be allowed to use such mandates. The poll also showed, at the time, that 52% of Florida voters disapproved of Gov. DeSantis’ handling of the pandemic. As Florida Politics wrote:

“A new poll commissioned by the Committee to Protect Health Care finds strong support for mask mandates in schools and opposition to Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ policies. The committee is an organization of doctors that has been allied with Democrats since forming in 2016 to oppose Donald Trump and has been strongly critical of DeSantis’ policies. Its new poll found 73% of Florida voters say local school districts should be allowed to implement mask mandates, while just 25% oppose such measures.”

In July 2021, the organization drew a response from the DeSantis administration:

“Gov. Ron DeSantis has drawn national attention for bucking federal health-care officials over the handling of the novel coronavirus, but a group of Florida physicians said Thursday, July 22, the governor’s push to reopen the state and block precautions are a main reason for a sharp increase in the number of residents suffering from COVID-19. Bernard Ashby, a Miami cardiologist and leader of the Florida chapter of the Committee to Protect Health Care, said DeSantis should spend more time talking to people about the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and less time attacking federal infectious-disease expert Anthony Fauci in hopes of scoring political points… Christina Pushaw, a DeSantis spokeswoman, said the physicians aren’t well-informed and cited the governor’s focus on vaccinating seniors.”

When Gov. DeSantis nominated Dr. Joseph Ladapo as Florida’s surgeon general, physicians with CTP signed a letter opposing the nomination, which was covered in the Tampa Bay Times:

“That letter, and other public statements from Ladapo, as well as his vigorous opposition to schools requiring masks of students and staff, prompted more than 100 Florida physicians to sign a letter challenging him. The organization, the Committee to Protect Health Care, includes doctors from all over the state, including three members of the faculty at the University of Florida’s College of Medicine, where Ladapo was offered a tenured professorship as part of his state employment contract that will pay him $512,000 a year.”

The organization has continued to criticize both Gov. DeSantis and now-Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo. In January 2022, they held a press conference covered by the Gainesville Sun:

“Three prominent Florida physicians on Wednesday called on Gov. Ron DeSantis and state Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo to focus on public health and stop politicizing the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Frederick Southwick, a Gainesville infectious disease specialist, Dr. Bernard Ashby, a Miami cardiologist, and Dr. Michael Teng, a Tampa virologist, joined a Zoom conference call with news media as members of the Committee to Protect Health Care. ‘We are here today to set the record straight on the monoclonal antibody therapies that Gov. Ron DeSantis has been making hay about,’ Ashby said. ‘Unfortunately the governor has been playing politics once again rather than focusing on actions that would save lives and prevent suffering on a larger scale.’” ‘It's very clear that Dr. Joseph Ladapo is being influenced by Gov. DeSantis. He is currently espousing policies that are contrary to the evidence,’ said Ashby, who is state leader of the committee.”

The Committee then commissioned a poll of Florida voters, which they said showed that most agreed local school districts should be allowed to use such mandates. The poll also showed, at the time, that 52% of Florida voters disapproved of Gov. DeSantis’ handling of the pandemic.

CTP has been active in other battleground states as well, including Wisconsin, where their accountability measures against U.S. Senator Ron Johnson were covered by Up North News:

“Doctors with the Committee to Protect Health Care on Monday said U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson continued to pose a public health risk due to his continued spread of misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines. Three doctors—Dr. Ann Helms, a Milwaukee neurologist and state lead with the Committee to Protect Health Care; Dr. Bob Freedland, a La Crosse ophthalmologist; and Dr. William Reid, a Watertown cardiac surgeon—raked Johnson over the coals hours after he hosted a panel featuring a dozen doctors known to spread discredited claims and conspiracy theories about the pandemic.”

In Texas, Committee members have expressed opposition to Governor Greg Abbott’s ban on vaccine mandates. As TV station KDFW covered:

“A group of activist doctors is protesting Gov. Greg Abbott's statewide ban on private businesses imposing vaccine mandates. Abbott's order strongly recommends vaccines but says it should be a voluntary decision. The doctors, who are members of a group called the Committee to Protect Health Care, say it's an order that doesn't protect and puts political posturing before people. Doctors from across Texas are calling on Abbott to recall his executive order banning vaccine mandates. Dallas Dr. Keith Moron is with the Committee to Protect Health Care. ‘By singling out the COVID vaccine for exclusion simply to score political points, the governor’s order raises serious questions about the commitment of Texas political leadership to vaccinations as a whole,’ he said.”

In 2021, the Committee also began undertaking legislative work in a number of states with the goal of expanding access to affordable health care. They supported legislation in Nevada to create a state public health insurance option. They organized physicians there to help pass the Nevada Public Option by writing op-eds, being featured in video advertisements, and lobbying legislators. TIME wrote of their efforts, quoting CTP’s executive director, Dr. Rob Davidson:

“But proponents of the plans learned to fight the opposition with members of their own, enlisting doctors and insurance executives to talk about why they support a public option. 'They try to lump the whole system together and say, well, the system’s against this, doctors, hospitals are all against this,' says Dr. Rob Davidson, an ER doctor and executive director of the Committee to Protect Health Care. 'Doctors felt this need to stand up and say, wait a minute, we do this because we want to help people. And when we see this legislation that could actually help people, this is something we want to be a part of.' Davidson’s group organized physicians on the ground in each state to write op-eds, appear in commercials, and lobby their legislators in favor of the public option.”

CTP has also maintained advocacy efforts at the federal level. CTP’s statements around the 2022 State of the Union address were highlighted by the White House as a relevant health care constituency in their summary of statements and releases around the speech.

In August 2021, hundreds of doctors and medical professionals with the Committee wrote to leaders in Congress urging them to work to lower the eligibility age for Medicare. The Independent wrote:

“Hundreds of U.S. doctors wrote to leaders of the Democratic Party on Capitol Hill and the White House this week, urging them to lower the eligibility age for Medicare in the upcoming infrastructure bill set to be passed through budget reconciliation measures. In the letter, released by the Committee to Protect Health Care, more than 800 physicians and other health professionals urged President Joe Biden, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to include legislation in the reconciliation package shifting the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 60.[...] Rob Davidson, an emergency medical physician in western Michigan and the president of the Committee to Protect Health Care, told The Independent that the upcoming reconciliation package currently valued around $3.5 trillion was a ‘golden opportunity’ for Democrats to make a serious move to expand Medicare.”

The Committee to Protect Health Care began with the launching of a Facebook group in the aftermath of Trump’s election and his promises to strip Americans of protections for preexisting conditions, overturn the ACA, and cut Medicare. In early 2020, the Executive Director, Dr. Rob Davidson, had a conversation with Vice President Mike Pence at Drake Diner in Iowa, in which he expressed concerns about Medicare and Medicaid policies. A video of the exchange went viral, and established a national profile for Dr. Rob Davidson as a self-proclaimed patient advocate.

As the pandemic began and continued throughout 2020, medical professionals mobilized with the Committee to criticize elected officials like President Trump whom they considered to be failing public health. Together with organizational staff, they launched advertisements and earned media campaigns across the United States with the aim of holding politicians accountable with regard to COVID-19 as well as health care access policies. The Committee’s Michigan State Lead, Dr. Farhan Bhatti, was also invited to testify in October 2020 in the Senate confirmation hearings for then-nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

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