GOP fund-raising strategy targets physicians

Republican campaign committee invites doctors to join its "Physician's Advisory Board" as a hook for soliciting contributions.

By Amy Snow Landa, amednews staff. July 30, 2001.

Washington -- Julie Isaacson, MD, was surprised and flattered when she received a phone call inviting her to join a select panel of doctors who advise congressional Republicans on health care issues.

The "Physician's Advisory Board" counsels GOP leaders on such topics as HMO reform and reducing government interference in medicine, explained the caller, who said he was a representative of House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R, Texas).

Asking for expertise ... and for money

Dr. Isaacson was intrigued by the opportunity to have her views heard. "I thought, why not? I have a lot of input." So the Newburg, Ore., orthopedic surgeon agreed to join the board, thinking that, as a Democrat, she might be able to "balance" the views of other members.

But after saying she would join the panel, Dr. Isaacson was promptly asked for a $500 donation, which came as a surprise.

Thousands of physicians like Dr. Isaacson have been invited to join the board, only to find they are the targets of a fund-raising solicitation by the National Republican Congressional Committee, which raises money for House GOP campaigns.

While some doctors say they sensed the fund-raising aspect of the call immediately and were happy to contribute, others did not and felt misled.

More than 1,000 physicians accepted the GOP's invitation to join the Physician's Advisory Board.

Dr. Isaacson, although hesitant, agreed to contribute $100 to what seemed like a worthwhile project. It wasn't until she received follow-up materials in the mail that she realized her donation would be used to help fund Republican congressional campaigns. Instead of mailing a check to the NRCC, she sent a scathing letter to DeLay in which she said she "consider[ed] the whole business misleading and unethical."

Dr. Isaacson also contacted the government watchdog group Common Cause, which has since issued a statement condemning the NRCC's telemarketing tactics as "predatory, deceptive and downright sleazy."

While perhaps distasteful, it is hardly unusual for a political party to invite someone to join a "club" as part of a pitch to get them to contribute money, according to Candice Nelson, PhD, director of the Campaign Management Institute and an associate professor of political science at American University, Washington, D.C.

"It's a way to draw people in," Dr. Nelson said. "People want to feel like their views matter. But it basically is a fund-raising pitch."

In this case, the caller uses hot-button issues like HMO reform to pique physicians' interest. But most doctors interviewed for this story were uncertain, even after the call, whether DeLay's views were in line with those of organized medicine. They said the caller did not elaborate on DeLay's record, including his long-standing opposition to the patients' bill of rights legislation the AMA has been pushing for several years.

Calls intended to flatter

To many doctors, the call seems designed to flatter them as well as appeal to any desire they may have to influence national policy-making.

"To tell you the truth, had you listened to the sales pitch you would have thought that the next thing you were going to do was get a ride on Air Force One," said a New York GOP doctor who asked not to be identified.

All of the physicians who were interviewed for this story described getting a similar pitch. For example, doctors invited to join the board are told they have been nominated to be one of its "honorary chairmen."

Although the offer may appeal to some, retired family physician James Langley, MD, thought: "C'mon, give me a break. How many chairmen can you have?" A Republican living in Golden, Colo., Dr. Langley has donated to the party in the past, but declined this invitation.

Doctors are also told that if they join the Physician's Advisory Board, their name will be among those listed in a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal.

Above a list of approximately 1,000 names of physicians, the ad declares: "We recognize the following state chairmen for their medical expertise and professional success, the example they have set in their communities and their willingness to provide leadership to this important effort. You are making a difference."

In addition, doctors are told they will be able to meet with top members of Congress. In a follow-up letter to doctors, DeLay writes that "[House] Speaker [Dennis] Hastert, other party leaders and I look forward to meeting with you personally should you decide to join our Advisory Board. I hope you will attend both our [state] and national meetings so we can give you the public recognition you so richly deserve."

Two board members who were interviewed for this story said they had never received any actual invitations.

The board "is really just a donation thing," explained one member in Michigan who asked not to be identified. He said he assumed that the project was simply about fund-raising when he contributed $100 last year. "I was glad to have done it," he said.

Another board member, an orthopedic surgeon in Florida, said he hoped members' opinions were taken into account when House Republicans crafted the patients' bill of rights they introduced in June. "I'd like to think we played some role in that," he said, noting that he had filled out a questionnaire on health care issues.

NRCC officials were not able to provide any information on how input from the Physician's Advisory Board may have actually reached House GOP leaders or affected their policy-making.

But Carl Forti, the NRCC's deputy communications director, noted that board members had been invited to a tax reform workshop held in Washington, D.C., in May and a legislative conference that was scheduled for late July. Sixty-five physician board members attended the May event, he said.

"The Physician's Advisory Board was set up because physicians have a unique perspective on many issues before Congress," Forti said. "There is a fund-raising component. But that's not the only function."

Fund-raising success?

While the NRCC's pitch has certainly turned off some who have heard it, more than 1,000 doctors around the country have accepted the invitation, the committee said.

NRCC officials would not provide an exact number of doctors who have joined the board since it was established in January 2000, nor would they say how many had been invited to join or how much money had been raised through the project. Forti said the money "would probably just go into the general fund" of the committee, although some is used to pay for advertisements.

The NRCC has no plans to end the project any time soon, Forti said. "We think the program is successful. Otherwise we wouldn't continue to do it."

But in trying to raise money from doctors, NRCC staffers probably have their work cut out for them, Dr. Nelson said. "Doctors are notoriously bad contributors," she said. In fact, that may be one reason the NRCC created the physician board. The panel would serve as "a natural hook" for trying to encourage more doctors to contribute to the party, she said.

The NRCC has proven remarkably successful overall in its efforts to raise money for GOP candidates. The panel reported this month that it had raised a record $39 million during the first six months of the year -- more than double the $18 million raised by its Democratic counterpart in the same period. The NRCC said it also had added 150,000 new donors to its files in the first six months of the year.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said it didn't have a fund-raising project targeting doctors.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Asking for expertise ... and for money

Excerpts from a June 15 letter sent by House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R, Texas) to James Langley, MD, following up on a call asking Dr. Langley to join the Physician's Advisory Board:

"[Y]our participation and input would be a tremendous help to us as we start to address key health care reform issues -- including HMO reform and unfunded, frivolous HCFA mandates."

"P.S. The Physician's Advisory Board staff requests that you return your written permission to use your name in our ad, together with your gift, in the enclosed envelope."