An attorney and disability advocate, Karl Cooper has spent most of his career addressing the needs of people with disabilities. Since October 2013, he has been AAHD’s Project Associate for the National Disability Navigator Resource Collaborative (NDNRC). He provides technical assistance to navigators and other enrollment specialists as they help people with disabilities obtain health insurance on the marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act.
Before joining AAHD, Cooper worked as a Policy Assistant at the National Disability Rights Network and a Policy Associate at the National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD) in Washington, DC. At NASUAD he worked on health policy and workforce issues. Cooper’s health policy work focused on Medicaid reform and tracking changes at the state level, especially in managed care and the Medicare/Medicaid coordination demonstrations. On workforce issues, he advocated for and monitored reauthorization efforts for the Workforce Investment Act.
Before moving to Washington, DC, he practiced law for 14 years in Philadelphia. He opened his own firm in 2006 where he was able to devote time to pro-bono advocacy for those affected by physical and developmental disabilities. As part of that work, he helped consumers navigate employment and educational opportunities, drawing on his own experiences as a person with physical disabilities. Karl received his law degree in 1997 from Villanova University School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in Communications and Political Science from Cedarville University in 1994.
