Health Care Emergency Assistance for People Living with HIV https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/proposals-2020/health-care-emergency-assistance-for-people-living-with-hiv https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/@@site-logo/sitelogo-75x75.png

Health Care Emergency Assistance for People Living with HIV

Additional Information
Used for	Grant funds will be used to help people living with HIV obtain and keep health insurance that addresses their unique medical needs by assisting with health insurance premiums and deductibles, and physician and prescription co-payments.
Benefits	Access to health insurance enables people living with HIV to receive medical care including life-saving anti-retroviral medication. Viral suppression is directly related to medication compliance. Health care is essential to individual health as well as the well-being of the community at large. However, people living in poverty - even those with subsidies from the Affordable Care Act - are sometimes unable to pay premiums, co-payments, and deductibles. Resources for these expenses help people maintain health insurance coverage, and therefore obtain the care of physicians and prescription medications. RAIN’s assistance with health insurance enrollment and premiums, deductibles and copayment has grown tremendously due to COVID-19 layoffs. We have already served 169 individuals and open enrollment season has not yet begun. As of September, we have already paid $220,000 more in insurance assistance than in all of 2019.
Proposal Description	RAIN’s mission is to empower persons living with HIV and those at risk to be healthy and stigma free. RAIN began providing health insurance premium assistance for clients living with HIV in 2015, spending $11,500 that year. Since then, requests for assistance have increased dramatically. Yet, Ryan White reimbursements are far less than needed. In 2019, RAIN paid $429,224, an 18% increase over 2018. Ryan White reimbursement was $111,819, only 26% of the amount needed. Between January and September 2020, we have paid over $647,000 in premiums, deductibles and copayments with Ryan White only covering 6% to date. We anticipate that 2021 will be similar to this year since the coronavirus pandemic continues to have a negative effect on employment in our area. RAIN does not turn anyone away who is seeking services. However, we are limited in the number of individuals who can receive assistance with insurance-related expenses by the amount of funding we have available. Your support will be vital in helping us continue to provide this service to LGBTQ individuals living with HIV. A debt to income ratio scale is used in evaluating a clients’ financial needs to ensure the funds are being utilized to fill the largest gaps. Each client receiving assistance is contacted monthly to see that they are still actively engaged with a physician and to help alleviate any barriers to medical care. Number of Clients to be Served in 2020 with insurance premium assistance and deductibles, and/or physician visits and prescription medication copayments: 250 unduplicated clients Qualification measures: RAIN will document that individuals served by this program (1) have an HIV diagnosis, (2) live in Mecklenburg County, and (3) have incomes between 100% and 300% of the Federal Poverty Level. Outcome Measures: (1) 100% of individuals served will gain comprehensive health care coverage. (2) 80% of individuals served will achieve viral suppression. RAIN is uniquely qualified to deliver this program because of our long history of providing services for LGBTQ people and people living with HIV in the Charlotte / Mecklenburg County. RAIN is well-recognized for its expertise in assisting people living with HIV navigate the ACA insurance marketplace. Our evaluation processes show that people who have access to health insurance through this program have better clinical outcomes.