A mysterious group, “Protect Patients Indiana,” is funneling more than $50,000 in health care ads purporting to protect Hoosier patients. Photo is a screenshot from Protect Patients Indiana ad.

By Casey Smith
Indiana Capital Chronicle

INDIANA — A vague television commercial streaming across Hoosiers’ screens during the airing of the Olympic Games seems to call for increased patient protections and less government regulation over health care. But details about “Protect Patients Indiana” are scarce, and the mysterious group — which has so far funneled more than $54,000 in ads — appears to be based out of state, in Ohio.

The 30-second ad features generic clips of doctors and patients inside hospitals. An off-camera narrator says Protect Patients Indiana “is committed to safeguarding our health care” by “reducing red tape, supporting local hospitals and their staff” and “ensuring access for all Hoosiers.”

A “join us” callout at the end of the video points viewers to a website under the same name.

Absent from the ad and website, however, is any information about Protect Patients Indiana, its financial supporters, or any other details about the group.

Though it’s not made clear in the campaign materials, the ad appears to be the work of Protect Patients Indiana, a limited liability company registered in Ohio in June.

It’s one of 83 LLCs or nonprofits created since 2023 by Cincinnati-based Langdon Law, according to Ohio’s Secretary of State.

The firm is run by David Langdon, described as a behind-the-scenes conservative lawyer, who over the last decade has quietly helped nonprofits and super-PACs pour millions of dollars into elections. Langdon did not return the Indiana Capital Chronicle’s request for comment.

Few Details Exist About Protect Patients Indiana

Federal Communications Commission records indicate that Protect Patients Indiana purchased 39 ad spots to air between July 15 and Aug. 25 on WTHR, the Indianapolis NBC-affiliate.

Another 23 ad spots were purchased to air between July 15 and Aug. 31 on Indianapolis WXIN’s FOX 59.

The commercials are scheduled to run during local news hours, as well as throughout primetime evening shows like NBC Nightly News, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy and coverage of the 2024 Olympic Games.

FCC records show the ads were purchased in early July by Denver-based M2 Placements LLC. Representatives from the group did not respond to the Capital Chronicle’s requests for comment.

Tim Phelps, vice president of Hathaway Strategies in Indianapolis, is listed as a contact for Protect Patients Indiana on the WXIN form. He is also listed as chairman of the group.

Reached via email Phelps didn’t provide additional details and only said in a statement that “Protect Patients Indiana is an organization that advocates for minimal government intervention, trust in healthcare providers and access to a range of healthcare options in every Indiana community.”

The wording mirrors the group’s website, which says its mission is to “advocate for minimal government intervention, trust in healthcare providers, and support for community hospitals.” That includes “safeguard(ing)” local health care services, addressing “workforce challenges,” and promoting policies that “protect and enhance access to care for all individuals across the state.”

A video of the TV ad is the first to pop up when visiting the website:

“When your life’s on the line, you shouldn’t have to worry if the local hospital is open, if there’s enough staff, or if government regulations will affect your care,” the narrator said in the video. “Four in 10 Hoosiers will need hospitalization this year. That’s why Protect Patients Indiana is committed to safeguarding our health care; by reducing red tape, supporting local hospitals and their staff, ensuring access for all Hoosiers. Protect Patients Indiana. Prioritizing health in every community, Join us.”

The hospitalization statistic is more than four times the state’s current hospitalization rate. According to the American Hospital Directory, there were roughly 653,000 hospital patient discharges in 2022, equal to about one in 10 Hoosiers.

An “issues” page on the website further highlights “staff shortages and workforce concerns” in Indiana’s health care system; concerns over rural hospital closures; Hoosiers’ “minimal appetite” for increased government regulation in health care; the “vital role” of community hospitals that provide essential services and preventive to low-income patients; and advocacy for “for policies prioritizing patient-provider relationships, fostering trust in healthcare institutions, and minimizing government interference in medical decisions.”

Both the Indiana Hospital Association and Hoosiers for Affordable Healthcare said they are not affiliated with the effort.

Website users are asked to sign an inconspicuous online petition to “secure the future of community healthcare in Indiana.” The form asks for a name, email, zip code and phone number.

No agents or contacts are mentioned anywhere on the advertisement or website. An inquiry into the website’s domain shows it was additionally registered anonymously.

What — Who — Is Langdon Law?

Currently, 72 of the LLCs or nonprofits created by Langdon are active, per Ohio records. Most were registered in 2023.

Protect Patients Indiana, along with the Nevada Jobs and Growth PAC LLC became effective June 5. Two other LLCs — the Ohio Christian Education Network LLC and the United States Christian Education Network LLC — were registered with Ohio’s Secretary of State during the last week of July.

Other organizations formed by Langdon since 2023 include: Working Ohioans Against Recreational Marijuana, Coalition to Restore American Values, Conservative Alliance of Republicans, Cambridge Digital Bible Research, and both an LLC and a PAC with the name Parents Against Stupid Stuff.

A 2015 report from Politico described Langdon as the “Suburban Ohio Lawyer Behind the Right’s Dark Money Machine,” and found that at least 11 groups connected to Langdon or his firm collectively spent at least $22 million on federal and state elections and ballot initiatives around the country between 2010 and 2015.

A Columbus Dispatch report, also from 2015, further described Langdon as “an unswerving legal warrior for conservative, often Christian, nonprofit organizations that together spend millions more to influence public policy and wield great influence among evangelical voters.”

Langdon was a lead author of a proposed amendment to Ohio’s constitution defining marriage as between a man and a woman, which voters passed in 2004. He’s also donated thousands of work hours to the Alliance Defending Freedom, a nonprofit Christian legal ministry that specializes in  religious freedom cases.

While Langdon Law has donated thousands to political campaigns and committees in other states, no such donations appear in Indiana campaign finance records  — though Langdon or the new LLC could still choose to do so ahead of the November election.