Put People First! PA

Our Accomplishments

In 2012 a diverse group of lifelong Pennsylvanians from rural, small town and urban areas came together to start Put People First! PA. Rooted in struggling communities, they saw a need for a new kind of organization that would be connected to and accountable to everyday people, not foundations or the political system. They started by writing down everyone they knew in all 67 counties and having dozens of conversations to find out if their vision resonated. Everyone they talked to said a movement to unite across the state for human rights was absolutely necessary, which gave them the courage and resolve to move forward.

Some highlights of our accomplishments over the years

In 2025 we helped pass HB 583 to restore the Adult Dental Benefit to Medicaid in the PA House.
In 2024 we helped pass HB 1417 to restore the Adult Dental Benefit to Medicaid in PA House. Philadelphia City Council passed a unanimous resolution in support of a Public Healthcare Advocate for Pennsylvania.
In 2023 we launched the Medicaid cut-offs organizing drive. Over the course of 2023-2024 we achieved a 93% success rate in winning Medicaid appeals using grassroots lawyering.
In 2022 we launched the fight against private equity in the Crozer hospital system, and sounded the alarm about the ending of pandemic protections.
In 2021 we published our Public Healthcare Advocate policy paper and introduced the Public Healthcare Advocate Act HB 1828 in the PA House.
In 2020 we launched the national Nonviolent Medicaid Army, distributed thousands in Community Care funds to help our leaders during the height of the pandemic and established survival programs throughout the state.
In 2019 we fought the closing of Lancaster Pinnacle UPMC (formerly St. Joe’s) hospital, and achieved the unanimous passage of a resolution in favor of a Public Healthcare Advocate in Lancaster City Council.
In 2019 we held a successful medical debt jubilee campaign, absolving over 1.6 million dollars of medical debt for over 800 families in 18 Western PA counties.
In 2018 we formed the Nonviolent Medicaid Army in PA and helped organize the largest action in the country with the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival’s 40 days of Action launch.
In 2017 we won Healthcare Town Halls in communities across PA for public comment as part of the insurance rate review process conducted by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department.
In 2016 over 600 people came together to win the first public hearing on ACA/Obamacare rate increases in Harrisburg since the law’s implementation.
In 2016 we produced the report Beyond Coverage: Putting People First in PA’s Health Care System, based on hundreds of interviews with PA residents about their experiences with health care.