Thao Nguyen is the Director of Outreach for Health and Reproductive Rights. She oversees the outreach efforts for the Center's work on health care, reproductive rights, and judicial nominations. She helped manage the successful health campaign Being A Woman Is Not A Pre-Existing Condition and is the campaign director of This Is Personal. Previously, Ms. Nguyen managed the policy and advocacy work at different HIV/AIDS and environmental organizations. Her education has mainly come from her random traveling experiences, which includes sharing a truck with ducks around Vietnam and getting caught playing hide-and-seek in the House of Lords during off hours. She also received her undergraduate degree in English from the University of California, Irvine and a graduate degree in International and Comparative Legal Studies, with a speciality in Human Rights Law from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Thao spends her free time espousing the marvels of eBay and stressing out about making her yoga classes on time.
Thao Nguyen
Thao Nguyen is the Director of Outreach for Health and Reproductive Rights. She manages the outreach efforts for the Center's work on health care, reproductive rights, and judicial nominations. Previously, Ms. Nguyen managed the policy and advocacy work a
Blog Post List
July 22, 2014
By Dania Palanker, Senior Counsel, National Women's Law Center Today, two circuit courts ruled on whether the Affordable Care Act (ACA) allows individuals enrolled in health insurance through the Federally Facilitated Marketplace to receive federal subsidies to help with health insurance costs, specifically premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld these subsidies, finding that the IRS interpretation providing subsidies through the Federally Facilitated Marketplace is “permissible construction of the statutory language.” Hours earlier, a panel...
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July 3, 2013
By Karen Davenport, Director of Health Policy Yesterday's surprise announcement that the Obama Administration is postponing implementation of the health reform law's requirement that firms with more than 50 workers provide affordable, comprehensive health insurance or pay a small penalty set off a flurry of commentary and speculation. Much of this reaction focused on how the decision will affect larger employers and their workers — that is, very little — and others weighed in on the political implications of this move. The biggest impact on large employers is if they do not provide the...
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February 11, 2013
By Anna Benyo , Senior Health Policy Analyst, National Women's Law Center A recent study by the North Carolina Institute of Medicine confirmed what many Governors, state legislators, advocates, and the public already know: covering more hardworking people through the Medicaid program is not only the right thing to do, it’s a good deal that makes a lot of sense. I’ll just reiterate the strong findings of the report : In summary, a decision to participate in Medicaid expansion, as put forth in the [health care] law, would provide insurance coverage to approximately 500,000 North Carolinians ;...
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December 28, 2012
By Marcia D. Greenberger , Co-President, National Women's Law Center As we approach the end of President Obama’s first term in office, it’s an appropriate time to look back and take stock of the impact the President has had on the federal bench, to date. Although, thanks to a determined minority in the Senate, there is a record number of judicial seats that remain empty, the most recent additions to the federal bench are remarkable not only for their excellence and qualifications, but also for how they are changing the face of the judiciary. President Obama’s Administration has nominated more...
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July 31, 2012
I’m at that time in life when lots of my friends are having kids. I’m thrilled for my friends - their kids are awesome and adorable. But one thing they’re not is cheap. And if Republicans have their way, kids are about to get even more expensive. New analysis by the Tax Policy Center shows that the tax bill (H.R.8) introduced by Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) ends tax cuts for millions of hard-working families. In fact, more than one-third of all families with children and nearly three-quarters of low-income families with children would lose valuable tax benefits under Rep. Camp’s bill.
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June 25, 2012
By Dania Palanker , Senior Advisor The health care law is saving money for seniors. Let me reword that. The health care law is saving a lot of money for seniors. By a lot, I mean $3.7 billion in savings for seniors and people with disabilities in Medicare . Yes, that is billion with a b . Those billions of dollars are being saved because the health care law is reducing and ultimately eliminating the donut hole in Medicare Part D that left seniors with a gap in prescription drug coverage. In 2010, almost 4 million people in Medicare received a rebate up to $250 for prescription drug costs...
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June 12, 2012
by Karen Davenport, Director of Health Policy, National Women's Law Center The major health insurers held a hot-ticket event yesterday – first United Healthcare announced that it would retain key patient protections and health coverage guarantees, no matter how the Supreme Court rules on the Affordable Care Act , and by mid-afternoon it seemed like all of the other health plans wanted to be at the party, too. First, United Healthcare kicked off the festivities in grand style by promising that it would continue to cover preventive care without requiring patients to make co-payments, allow...
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June 6, 2012
By Judy Waxman , Vice President of Health and Reproductive Rights Opponents of the health care law are determined to weaken the law by any means — even if it means hurting millions of middle class families. Help us fight back — the House of Representatives will vote tomorrow: tell your Member of Congress to oppose H.R. 436, legislation that undermines tax credits in the health care law that help make health insurance coverage more affordable for women and their families . Opponents of the law are trying to pass legislation that would eliminate some of its most important benefits, making...
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June 4, 2012
Got questions about what the health care law means for women? We've got answers! I'll be at the White House this Thursday, June 7, from 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. ET for an interactive Women's Health Townhall. Please join us online! You can submit questions by visiting us on Facebook and leaving your question as a comment, or by sending a tweet with the hashtag #WomensHealth. Then on Thursday, June 7 from 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. ET, you can watch the event live at www.whitehouse.gov/live or follow our live tweets @nwlc to see if your question is answered. The White House's Women’s Health Townhall...
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May 11, 2012
This mother’s day – I’d like to share an oldie but goodie blog post about the importance of moms in our lives, and how critical it is to provide them with the safety nets that they provide their children every day. This year, three of my four sisters are celebrating their first or second Mother’s Day. It was my mother’s desire to help others that drove me toward social justice work and the determination of my sisters that made me passionate about women’s issues. They are the moms that keep me going during the up-and-down emotional battles, long hours, and endless fights to ensure that women...
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April 12, 2012
By Devi Rao , Law Fellow Yesterday the National Women's Law Center hosted a tweetchat with women's health advocate Sandra Fluke and Law Students for Reproductive Justice . The chat provided a great opportunity for university students and employees to learn more about their contraceptive coverage under the health care law and the Obama Administration's proposed accommodation for religiously-affiliated employers. And although the actual chat conversation was lively and informative, unfortunately a few vocal "participants" attempted to "hijack" (their word) the chat and launch hostile, offensive, and sexist ad hominem attacks on Sandra Fluke and any person who dares to ask his or her school or employer to provide contraceptive coverage. (The worse examples of the comments can be found here .) So, apparently a woman who advocates for equality in health care exhibits "whorish behavior and a slutty lack of respect." Charming.
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April 11, 2012
Danielle Garrett , Policy Analyst You may have heard about a new report claiming the Affordable Care Act will increase the deficit by $340 billion, rather than decreasing it by $143 as projected by the Congressional Budget Office. Now, there is a big difference between these two numbers, so you would be justified in asking how this new study could come to such a different conclusion from the CBO, the government’s own nonpartisan scorekeeper. The answer is by using some very fuzzy math . It’s a little complicated, even for me and I’m a numbers person! But the issue is basically this: Medicare...
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March 26, 2012
Today, the Supreme Court began arguments about the constitutionality of provisions within the Affordable Care Act. Watch our short video explaining the legal challenges, why we think the law is constitutional, and what women could lose if the law is struck down. http://youtu.be/PxVWrlUf4Bc Also, you can check out an updated fact sheet about the health care law litigation and what women could lose without the law here . To find out more about the health care law litigation, check out www.nwlc.org/healthcarelawlitigation . Also, continue to check our blog the rest of the week to hear more from...
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January 25, 2012
By Anita Youngkin , Director of Human Resources, National Women's Law Center Over the years I’ve worked with some leaders/employees who suggested, some more strongly, that we base employment related decisions such as hiring, promotion, benefits, terminations, etc. on an employee’s health. One such manager who had fortunately always been healthy and hadn’t been impacted by access to health care and hadn’t faced issues with cost proposed that “sick” employees pay more of the health care premiums. Some of these “sick” people were simply pregnant. A few months after we moved ahead with our...
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January 24, 2012
This is what I remember about the Lunar New Year as a child: I got to stay up late to go to temple, people gave me money in red envelopes for no other reason than I was a kid, and a week of endless buffets with relatives. As an adult, this holiday has taken on a new meaning. Now, I can barely keep my eyes open for it to hit midnight, I send money home to stuff red envelopes for my nephews, and I organize my life around the Asian zodiac in a way that I mocked my parents for doing (sorry mom and dad). Let me go back a little. I should start by saying that like many other Asian cultures, the...
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January 11, 2012
Imagine my shock, when I recently found out that not everyone reads our blog. I will give you a moment to recover from this astounding revelation (person who religiously reads our blog). For the very few of you that don’t always read our blog, let me give you some insight into one of the many reasons you should start: it will give you a better understanding of how the health care law is improving, and will continue to improve, people’s lives. Recently, a former Senator said that people with pre-existing conditions should pay more for their health insurance – citing an example from his own...
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December 14, 2011
It’s not hard to understand why the recent announcement that 2.5 million young adults have gained coverage through the Affordable Care Act is a big deal (this large gain is due to a provision in the law that went into effect on September 23, 2010 and allows adult children without access to job-based coverage the ability to enroll as a dependent on a parent’s plan). Let’s start with the fact that historically, young adults are one of the largest populations of uninsured in this country . Also, because as cliché as it sounds, our youth is our future (I told you it was cheesy and cliché). They...
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November 22, 2011
By Marcia D. Greenberger, Co-President, National Women's Law Center Forty years ago today, for the first time in its history, the Supreme Court held that a law that discriminated against women violated the Constitution. In Reed v. Reed , a unanimous Court struck down an Idaho law requiring the automatic preference of a man over a woman when both applied to be the executor of an estate. The Court recognized that women had a constitutional right to equal protection of the law, turning from a long list of previous rulings that allowed women to be excluded from juries, or the legal profession, or...
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October 11, 2011
Greater protections against insurance company abuses: NO MORE RESCISSIONS: Insurance companies are prohibited from dropping your coverage if you become sick. NO MORE LIFETIME LIMITS: Insurance companies are prohibited from limiting the amount of money they will pay for your benefits over your lifetime. NO MORE ANNUAL CAPS: Insurance companies are prohibited from limiting the amount of money they will pay for benefits during one year. During 2011, annual limits cannot be lower than $750,000 & are completely prohibited by 2014. NO MORE DOCTOR’S NOTE TO VISIT THE OB-GYN: The new health care...
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October 4, 2011
By Marcia D. Greenberger , Co-President, National Women's Law Center Yesterday, the Senate confirmed six judicial nominees , four of whom were women: Nannette Jolivette Brown to the Eastern District of Louisiana, Nancy Torresen to the District of Maine, Marina Garcia Marmolejo to the Southern District of Texas, and Jennifer Guerin Zipps to the District of Arizona. Not only did the confirmation of these women bring the total number of women confirmed to the federal bench during the Obama Administration to 50 (47% of all confirmed nominees), but two of these nominees broke glass ceilings in...
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