Researcher
Nihaarika Sharma, M.S.W., M.P.H., is a Researcher at L&M Policy Research. Ms. Sharma has over five years of experience in policy analysis and conducting qualitative research with diverse communities to advance health equity through federal, state, and local policy. She currently supports several projects for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and other federal clients through policy analyses and qualitative research activities such as environmental scans, in-depth interviews, focus groups, and small group discussions.
At L&M, Ms. Sharma supports research, in English and Spanish, to improve outreach and education efforts and refine decision-support tools for Medicare beneficiaries and Health Insurance Marketplace consumers. Ms. Sharma also leads a task for the CMS Office of Minority Health (OMH) to support stakeholder engagement and the agency’s new federal advisory committee on health equity, having assisted in its launch by identifying health-related disparities and systemic barriers in CMS programs that hinder access for beneficiaries and consumers. Additionally, she works with the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and Administration for Community Living (ACL) to conduct policy analyses and develop strategies to streamline eligibility and enrollment processes for key public benefits programs for older adults.
Prior to joining L&M, Ms. Sharma worked with a consortium of scientists and healthcare providers in Massachusetts as a project manager and qualitative researcher to evaluate the impacts of Long COVID on marginalized communities. She also has experience in state government, program development, and youth education.
Ms. Sharma holds Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health degrees in macro social work, program implementation and evaluation, and maternal and child health from Boston University and a Bachelor of Science from Tufts University.