Center for Health and Democracy
A nonpartisan health-policy organization that advocates for patient-focused health care reform at the federal, state, and marketplace levels and works to expose corporate influence over the health care system. It published the 2025 Sunlight Report mapping UnitedHealth Group's corporate structure.
What It Is
The Center for Health and Democracy (C4HD) describes itself as advocating for "meaningful, nonpartisan, patient-focused health care reform." Its stated vision is a system where essential care is accessible and affordable to everyone, and its work focuses on countering the well-funded industry groups and corporate lobbying that, in its framing, keep the status quo in place. It publishes issue briefs on out-of-pocket costs, health insurance, and Medicare.
Notable Work — The Sunlight Report
In July 2025, the Center published the Sunlight Report on UnitedHealth Group — described as a first-of-its-kind public map of the company's corporate structure. Compiled from state Schedule Y filings from 2010 to 2024 and funded by Arnold Ventures, it documented that UnitedHealth had grown into roughly 2,694 distinct legal entities across insurance, clinical care, pharmacy, data, and other sectors, with operations in 17 countries.
The report's authors note it is educational and "not intended to be relied upon as definitive." AbilityForge uses it as the primary source for the corporate-umbrella section of the UnitedHealth entry.
Why It Matters
Much of what makes the largest health care companies hard to hold accountable is simply that their structure is hard to see. By compiling fragmented public filings into one accessible record, transparency projects like the Sunlight Report give regulators, journalists, and patients a fighting chance to understand who actually owns what — the same problem AbilityForge documents on the policy-capture side.
Appears On
Related Terms
Sources: Center for Health and Democracy (centerforhealthanddemocracy.org); The Sunlight Report on UnitedHealth Group (2025), funded by Arnold Ventures. Organizational description reflects the Center's own public materials.