Dania Palanker, Senior Counsel

Dania is a Senior Counsel for Health and Reproductive Rights. Her work focuses primarily on implementing health reform and expanding access to quality, affordable health care for women and their families. Prior to joining the Law Center, Dania worked for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Starting her work at SEIU in the research department, she became interested in expanding access to health care to low income families and spent a few years as Deputy Administrator of a health benefit program at SEIU, working to provide affordable health insurance to previously uninsured low wage workers and their families. After the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), she worked on implementing the law as Associate Director of Health Policy. Her background in the ACA includes insurance reforms, coverage expansions and delivery system reform, with particular expertise in employer benefits and insurance reforms. She is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

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

A Blunt Instrument for Harming Women’s Health

Posted by Dania Palanker, Senior Counsel | Posted on: February 29, 2012 at 11:15 am

The Senate is expected to vote this week on the Blunt Amendment – an amendment to the Highway Transportation Bill that would strip away women’s access to health care as promised through the health care law.  

Chiseling Away Access to Critical Preventive Services

The barriers women face to obtaining affordable health care jeopardize their health. To help address cost barriers that keep individuals from seeking critical preventive health care and ensure all women and their families have access to that care, the health care law established that certain evidence-based preventive services and screenings be covered with no cost-sharing.  

But, if the Blunt Amendment becomes law, employers and health insurance companies can deny access to lifesaving preventive care, including:

  • Mammograms
  • Pap Smears
  • Colonoscopies
  • Annual Wellness Visits
  • HPV immunizations
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Tags: Barriers to Reproductive Care, Health Care Reform, Health Care & Reproductive Rights | Add new comment

Women’s Health is Essential Health

Posted by Dania Palanker, Senior Counsel | Posted on: February 03, 2012 at 10:55 am

In 2014, all health insurance plans in the individual or small group market will have to cover a core set of Essential Health Benefits. This means that when a woman becomes pregnant, she won’t have to worry that her insurance doesn’t cover maternity care. Whether she gets coverage through a small business employer, on the individual market, or the new health insurance marketplaces called exchange – she will know that maternity care and other important health services for women are considered essential.

The components of the Essential Health Benefit package are one of the most important parts of the health care law because they are intended to correct longstanding discriminatory practices that women face in the vast majority of states. The National Women’s Law Center submitted comments on the Essential Health Benefits requirements of the Affordable Care Act to make sure these discriminatory practices are put to an end and the health needs of women are met.

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Tags: Affordable Care Act (ACA), Health Care, Health Insurance, Maternity Care, Mental Health Services, Prescription Drug Coverage, Health Care Reform, Pregnancy Rights, Health Care & Reproductive Rights | Add new comment

My Health Is Not a Pork Chop

Posted by Dania Palanker, Senior Counsel | Posted on: February 02, 2012 at 12:00 pm

I don't expect pork chops at a Jewish barbecue. I also never expected pork chops in my law school cafeteria. What does that have to do with my access to health care? It's a long story...

I decided to go to law school just months after being diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Scared, in pain, and facing a possible progression of my condition, I realized if I was going to go to law school, I had to go now. I started to research law schools and quickly realized something — I didn't really have a choice of schools.

The fibromyalgia diagnosis meant I couldn't give up my health insurance — student insurance may not have covered my needs. Keeping my health insurance meant I couldn't give up my job. Luckily, I lived in a metropolitan area with four top tier law schools offering part-time programs. Great! Except two of the schools were too far from work for me to make it on time for classes. So that leaves two options.

At this point, it's November 2003. I don't have time to study for the December LSAT exam, so I register for the February exam and plan to apply for the 2004-05 school year. Great! Except one of the two remaining schools won't accept the February exam for this application cycle. I could wait a year, but when you're terrified that you might wake up one day with so much pain that you will have to file for disability, a year is a very long time. So I apply to the remaining option.

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Tags: Health Insurance, Family Planning, Health Care Reform, Health Care & Reproductive Rights | 1 comment

One Year Ago Today, They Tried to Repeal My Health Care

Posted by Dania Palanker, Senior Counsel | Posted on: January 19, 2012 at 12:45 pm

Today is the anniversary of the day members of Congress tried to take away my health care. (Luckily, the Senate stayed strong in support of the law).

I spend a lot of time thinking about how the Affordable Care Act will help other people access health care. Today, on the anniversary of the day the U.S. House of Representatives voted to repeal the law, I want to reflect on what I would have lost if the repeal effort was successful.

1. I don't have to make employment choices based on health care.

When I decided to go to law school, I was searching for a diagnosis for debilitating pain. The idea of giving up my employment based coverage when I had an unknown condition that was likely chronic was terrifying. I couldn't do it. I didn't have to try and get coverage on the individual market to know I would be denied because of pre-existing conditions. So I decided to go to school at night and work full-time. Like many Americans, I had to make an important employment decision based on my health.

But come 2014, things will change:

  • No insurance company can deny me coverage for a pre-existing condition,
  • No insurance company can charge me more because I'm sick,
  • No insurance company can charge me more because I'm a woman, and
  • New Exchanges will provide market places to find and enroll in coverage.
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Tags: Affordable Care Act (ACA), Health Insurance, Health Care Reform, Health Care & Reproductive Rights | Add new comment

Cars, Condoms, and Cervical Cancer: Get Vaccinated and Get Screened for Free!

Posted by Dania Palanker, Senior Counsel | Posted on: January 13, 2012 at 01:55 pm

One day, in my late 20’s, I was in a car with a friend and she told me about this sexually transmitted virus that almost every woman has been exposed to that causes cancer even if you are using condoms.

There was a lot to take in during that conversation. I never thought about cervical cancer as a teenager. I had never heard of human papillomavirus (HPV). The idea that cancer could be caused by a virus never crossed my mind.

Since then, I have learned a lot more about HPV -- including that use of condoms does reduce the risk of transmission. As I have learned about HPV, I have learned about its connection to cervical cancer. As I learned about cervical cancer, I learned about the importance of getting regular pap smears.

Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States. But I think we are taking tremendous steps to reduce cervical cancer deaths.

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Tags: Reproductive Health, Health Care Reform, Health Care & Reproductive Rights | Add new comment