The ACE TA Center: Building Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Recipient Capacity to Enroll People with HIV in Health Coverage

Through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) Access, Care, and Engagement  Technical Assistance Center (ACE TA Center), JSI builds the capacity of the RWHAP community to navigate the changing health care landscape and help people with HIV to access and use their health coverage to improve health outcomes. We have been promoting access to health coverage through the ACE TA Center since 2013, when JSI first established the initiative in collaboration with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HIV/AIDS Bureau. 

The goals of the ACE TA Center are to (1) support RWHAP recipients and subrecipients to engage, enroll, and retain clients in health coverage (e.g., Marketplace and other private health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid); (2) communicate with RWHAP clients about how to stay enrolled and use health coverage to improve health care access, including through the use of Treatment as Prevention principles; and (3) improve the clarity of their communication around health care access and health insurance. 

JSI is working to accomplish these goals through national and targeted training and TA strategies that include needs assessment, in-person and virtual training, and development and dissemination of best practices and supporting resources. JSI has partnered with two subcontractors for this initiative – NASTAD (National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors) and Killelea Consulting.

The current ACE TA Center cooperative agreement (2022 – 2025) builds on the work of four prior HRSA-funded initiatives: 

1. The 2013-2016 cooperative agreement, “Supporting the Continuum of Care: Building Ryan White Program Grantee Capacity to Enroll Eligible Clients in Affordable Care Act Health Coverage,”  (the first iteration of the ACE TA Center) 
2. The 2014-2016 contract, “Health Literacy Project Targeting Adult and Young Black/African American Men who have Sex with Men” 
3. The 2016-2019 cooperative agreement, “Building Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Recipient Capacity to Engage People Living with HIV in Health Care Access,” (the second iteration of the ACE TA Center)
4. The 2019-2022 cooperative agreement, “Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) Access, Care, and Engagement Technical
   Assistance Center (ACE TA Center),” (the third iteration of the ACE TA Center). 

Visit targethiv.org/ace to find tools and resources for RWHAP program staff and clients, and sign up for updates from the ACE TA Center.