Lorelei:
This is a fair question to ask. The providers of the Trial (UCSF I presume) will explain how the costs are covered. Usually the sponsor of the trial, a drug company or institution, will pay for the expenses of the trial. This may include housing and other associated costs, but not always. Sometimes only the treatment. Often they will want the patient to undergo more examinations and tests required only for the treatment and it is unfair to expect an insurance company or patient to pay for such costs. In any case it is rare for an insurance company to pay for clinical trial expenses because the treatment is not approved, or is not the standard of care, in most cases. Insurers specifically deny such experimental costs, though this may not be true in every situation. Without covering the costs the Clinical trial underwriters would have almost no one to recruit, thus the free or nearly free treatment for trial participants. Travel, housing, and associated expenses are another matter.