Dania Palanker, Senior Health Policy Advisor

Dania is a Senior Health Policy Advisor focusing primarily on implementing health reform and expanding access to quality, affordable health care. Prior to joining the Law Center, Dania worked for the Service Employees International Union where she gained expertise in private insurance through her positions working to administer health benefit programs for low wage workers and, most recently, working on implementation of the Affordable Care Act. She is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She is licensed to practice law in New York State.

Expert in: Health Insurance, Health Care Reform, Medicaid & Other Public Funding, Health Care & Reproductive Rights

My Take

Protecting Our Hearts, With No Cost Sharing

Posted by Dania Palanker, Senior Health Policy Advisor | Posted on: May 18, 2012 at 10:38 am

I couldn’t remember the last time I had my cholesterol screened.

That probably isn’t a good thing given that there is a history of heart disease in my family. But I kept coming up with excuses not to get tested – I already have a lot of doctor appointments - I don’t have a primary care provider - I eat healthy - I’m too young to worry about cholesterol.

Then the health care law was passed and, after a few months, all new health plans had to provide certain preventive services with no cost sharing.

Eliminating the small copay for my preventive visit may not have been much, but it meant one less hurdle. I also started thinking about why these services are required to be provided with no cost sharing. Preventive services are important.

This Mother's Day, Here's What the Health Care Law is doing for Moms

Posted by Dania Palanker, Senior Health Policy Advisor | Posted on: May 11, 2012 at 03:45 pm

This blog post is a part of NWLC’s Mother’s Day 2012 blog series. For all our Mother’s Day posts, please click here.

Many of my friends will celebrate their first Mother’s Day being a mom this year. Others have recently expanded their families or have a first child on the way.

I’m happy that all these kids were born after the health care law was passed – because that means my friends can be secure that their kids will have access to health care. That includes my friend Robyn, whose son Jax had to have heart surgery when he was only three months old. Without the health care law, Robyn would have to worry about Jax hitting a lifetime limit on his insurance or being denied coverage for having a pre-existing condition.

The health care law also improves the health of women – like my friend Robyn and all my friends who are new moms.

Preventive Care with No Cost Sharing for New and Expecting Moms

All new health plans are already providing preventive services – such as cancer, diabetes and hypertension screenings – with no cost sharing. Starting this August, the list of preventive services will expand to cover women’s health services including many services important to expecting and new moms. These services include:

Prenatal Care: Testing for gestational diabetes without cost sharing and a well-woman visit including prenatal care means that expecting moms will know what steps they need to take to have a healthy pregnancy.

Breastfeeding Support and Supplies: New moms will have access to lactation counseling and rental of breastfeeding supplies without copays or deductibles. In addition to the preventive services, employers are now required to provide a clean space—that is not a bathroom—for new moms to pump.

Contraceptive Coverage: The full range of FDA-approved contraceptive coverage, including birth control pills, rings, implants, tubal ligation and more will be provided by plans without cost sharing. This is important to new moms because birth control helps women plan pregnancies so moms can access preconception and prenatal care and space pregnancies to help have a healthy baby.

Race, Sex and Health Care: The Math Adds up to ACA

Posted by Dania Palanker, Senior Health Policy Advisor | Posted on: April 27, 2012 at 11:17 am

National Women’s Law Center is proudly taking part in the Health Equity Can’t Wait! blog carnival celebrating National Minority Health Month. Participating bloggers are health, consumer, civil rights, and provider advocates committed to promoting health equity. You can find all the posts for the carnival here.

Women pay about $1 billion more for health care on the individual market just because they are women. Yet women are only paid 77 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts. We are charged more and we are paid less.

And that’s only part of the problem. The wage gap is even greater for African American women and Hispanic women. But the cost of health care is still high. So what does that add up to?

Well, if you try to add up it all up, you find out that African American and Hispanic women are more likely to be uninsured than white women. You learn that African American women ages 45 to 64 are almost twice as likely to have a disability, handicap or chronic disease that limits activity compared to white women in the same age range. You discover that Latina women have higher rates of diabetes and hypertension. You read that older women of color are undertreated for their cancer pain. You realize that there is a problem.

Between School and Job, Where is there Health Care?

Posted by Dania Palanker, Senior Health Policy Advisor | Posted on: March 28, 2012 at 11:23 am

Transitioning from school to the workforce can be a very difficult time. I remember when finished graduate school and made the decision to move to Washington, DC and sign a lease on an apartment even though I didn’t have a job. Access to health care is one more thing to worry about. But today, as the Supreme Court hears arguments on the health care law, I think about all the young women who will have one less thing to worry about when they graduate.

I recently met Rebekah Horowitz, a very smart and talented woman who has been volunteering with the Law Center while she looks for a job. She shared with me her thoughts on being a recent graduate and the impact the health care law will have on women in her position:

“In 2011, I finished my JD/MPH program in Philadelphia. In spite of my education, I am currently unemployed. My hope is that fact will soon change and it is likely that when I do get a job, I will receive health insurance through my employer. In the meantime, I have been keeping a close watch on the health care law and its impact on unemployed women.

New Options for Those with Chronic Illness

Posted by Dania Palanker, Senior Health Policy Advisor | Posted on: March 20, 2012 at 03:03 pm

Having a chronic illness is not easy. You have doctor appointments. Prescriptions to fill. Medical bills to sort through. Lab tests. Physical therapy exercises. Special diets. In some ways, a chronic illness can feel like a full-time job.

Ay, there’s the rub.

A chronic illness can feel like a full-time job, but millions of Americans depend on a full-time job for health insurance. So those of us with a chronic illness are often juggling two jobs – the one that pays the bills and provides the insurance and the one that racks up the bills and uses the insurance.

But what are we to do?

The individual insurance market is not a friendly place for the chronically ill. Once I had that first asthma attack as a child, the likelihood of getting coverage in the individual market took a nose dive.

The grass is not always greener on another plan. It’s difficult to give up a good employer sponsored plan when you don’t know what you will end up with. Access to my former employer’s insurance was an important factor in my decision to go to law school at night because I couldn’t take the chance that a student health plan wouldn’t cover my illness.

But things are changing.

Marcia Greenberger to Receive Award

NWLC Co-President Marcia Greenberger has been chosen to receive the 2012 Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award at American Bar Association's annual meeting on Aug. 5 in Chicago. The award honors outstanding women lawyers who have achieved professional excellence and paved the way to success for others, and previous winners include Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

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