Navigating Insurance Coverage Expansion (NICE)

The purpose of this research is to measure the effectiveness of an in-person assistance intervention on successful insurance enrollment, types of insurance coverage, rates of linkage to and retention in HIV-related health care, referrals to other HIV-associated health services, and health outcomes. The study population is Black and Hispanic men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender persons who are at higher risk for HIV. The study team will be testing the hypotheses that in-person health insurance enrollment assistance results in positive outcomes with regard to linkage to and retention in HIV-related health care. Analyses will be used to assess the efficacy of the intervention as an emerging practice.

The overall goal of this study is to test whether providing in-person assistance in enrolling in private health insurance or Medicaid for the first time, changing to a different insurance plan, or understanding how to use current insurance policies following HIV testing will (1) increase the proportion of participants who obtain health insurance; (2) result in better health outcomes among participants; (3) improve the linkage and retention rates of participants, especially those diagnosed with HIV; and (4) increase linkage and retention rates sufficiently to justify the cost of implementing the intervention (cost-benefit analysis).