JSI to Build Ryan White Program Grantee Capacity to Enroll Eligible Clients in Affordable Care Act Health Coverage Programs
BOSTON, Oct. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI) has been awarded a three-year, $5.4 million cooperative agreement to work with Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) grantees to enhance their capacity to enroll minority clients into expanded health insurance choices offered under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
"As usual everything about HIV is more complicated," said co-Principal Investigator Stewart Landers, JD MCP. "A typical person seeking to purchase insurance through the new market places will have questions about premiums, co-pays, network, subsidies, and penalties. That is challenging enough, but people living with HIV (PLWH) must ask another round of even more difficult questions about how enrolling into various ACA options will affect other services they receive such as those received through the federal RWHAP or disability benefits. Plus, it is essential for PLWH to maintain coverage of life-saving medication and access to providers who understand how to treat HIV disease."
Bisola Ojikutu, MD MPH, co-Principal Investigator, added, "Significant disparities in morbidity and mortality exist between racial and ethnic minorities living with HIV and other patients. Linkage to and retention in high quality HIV care is essential to improving clinical outcomes and eliminating disparities. Through this grant, JSI and its partners will provide necessary support to overcome the unique barriers faced by minority clients and improve access to care through enrollment in expanded health insurance programs under ACA."
JSI's Ryan White Affordable Care Enrollment (ACE) project will serve as a bridge between the RWHAP and the ACA for grantees across the country. The project will build the capacity of RWHAP grantees and funded providers to engage their newly eligible clients across all stages of the health coverage access continuum – outreach to minority populations, enrollment assistance, post-enrollment support, and renewal/re-enrollment.
JSI brings over 20 years of history working with RWHAP grantees and the HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau, as well as a strong record of involvement in health care reform, both in its home state of Massachusetts and nationally. JSI and its partners — Community Catalyst, Health Care for All, the National Council of La Raza, and Northeastern University's Institute on Urban Health Research and Practice — also have extensive experience studying and implementing best practices for culturally competent outreach and enrollment of eligible minority PLWH into new insurance options.
Contact: JSI Project Director Mira Levinson
Media Contact: Julie Cortesi (401 314 6050)
SOURCE JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc.
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