Editor’s note: “Where Are They Now” is a Muscatine Journal series written by former Muscatine Journal editor Gil Dietz, who welcomes comments and suggestions. You can contact him at 563-263-5499 or  gvdietz@machlink.

WASHINGTON D.C. — Muscatine native Christina (Tina) Hansen started her new job today. She is a program specialist in the Health Division in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Executive Office of the President. She already has a history of successful work in the field of public health.

“My job duties will be supporting the activities of the Health Division of OMB, which may include preparing analyses, reviewing legislation and negotiating budgets with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),” she said.

Tina, 24, is a 2003 graduate of Muscatine High School. She is the daughter of Dr. Mark Hansen (of Family Eye and Contact Lens Center), and Stacy Hansen of Muscatine, and Deb Hutcheon of Windsor Heights, Iowa.

She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from the University of Northern Iowa, and a master’s in public health from the University at Albany, New York.

Tina played a role in supporting what became a federal bill known as Michelle’s Law that was enacted by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush last fall.

According to Hansen, Michelle’s Law closed a loophole in insurance policies that allowed health insurance companies to drop coverage on college students if they dropped below full-time status, even if the student needed to take time off to receive treatment for a serious illness.

The law was named for Michelle Morse, a New Hampshire college student who continued classes in spite of having colorectal cancer, because she would have lost her insurance coverage if she had taken time off.

Hansen designated Michelle’s Law as a legislative priority for college students in the American Cancer Society’s Advocacy Guidebook for College Students.

According to Hansen, “A petition had existed within the organization for a while, but we really pushed the petition through the National Collegiate Summit (which I attended) and at other events,” she said.

“I designed and shipped a toolkit for each college chapter which

included stickers, pens, and yard signs to facilitate petition signing events.”

“Now that the bill is federal law, I feel very honored that I took part in its passage.

Hansen said her work on the bill not only revealed how many holes there are in the health case system, but it taught her several things, including the power of advocacy.

“Each citizen has a voice and can make a difference, said Hansen. “Your legislator works for you, so be sure to share your opinions on the issues.

“Young adults [are] one of the largest demographics of uninsured in our country. Though this bill closes the loophole for college students with serious illness, this is only a metaphorical Band Aid for the underlying dysfunction of our healthcare system,” she said.

For the past eight months during the spring and summer of 2009, Tina worked for the New York Chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gyne-cologists, an organization that represents about 4,000 Ob-Gyns in New York.

“While there, I was responsible for creating a committee of Ob-Gyns to focus on … safety and quality improvement. One of the committee’s first initiatives was to host a conference on those issues. I was the lead organizer and planner for the conference

“My other responsibility was to manage a grant to provide multidisciplinary education on electronic fetal monitoring. Ob-gyns have some of the highest premiums for medical malpractice insurance and fetal monitoring is one area that results in many claims. This training is the first in the country to be implemented statewide.”

Tina, who is single enjoys sports, running, cooking, reading, volunteering and traveling.

When asked about the current issues of health care reform, Tina said  “As a public health professional, I have studied many of the issues or holes within our healthcare system. I do hope that any healthcare reform that passes allows for quality healthcare coverage for all Americans. As a country we cannot allow for people to fall through the cracks, whether children, elderly, or young adults.”