Health Care Journalism Grant

NIHCM Foundation supports independent, timely, and impactful health care journalism intended to inform efforts to improve the affordability, accessibility, and quality of health care in the United States. Its Health Care Journalism Grant program supports both reporting projects and journalism education programs. Funded work is expected to produce new insights relevant to policymakers, health plans, health care delivery systems, health care consumers, and related stakeholders. All proposed projects must be geared toward improving health care in the United States. NIHCM identifies specific topic areas of interest in its call for applications, but it may also review proposals outside those areas on a case-by-case basis. NIHCM Foundation is making up to $460,000 available for the Health Care Journalism Grant cycle. Most individual grants are awarded in the $15,000 to $30,000 range. The Foundation assesses the efficiency of each proposed budget relative to the expected impact and scope of the project. NIHCM Foundation generally does not pay indirect costs to journalism grantee organizations. An exception may be considered individually when an applicant organization requires an indirect cost rate, in which case NIHCM will consider indirect costs of up to 12 percent of direct costs. No matching or cost-share requirement is stated in the provided information. Eligible applicants include journalists working for national and local print, digital, and broadcast outlets. Both nonprofit and for-profit news organizations may apply, and freelancers are also eligible; letters of interest or commitment are encouraged for freelancers. Nonprofit organizations and universities are additionally welcome to apply. Regardless of applicant type, proposals must focus on the United States to be considered. Applicants that have previously been rejected are permitted to reapply. NIHCM notes that projects may sometimes go unfunded because of budget constraints or because a similar project has already been selected, and applicants are welcome to return with a strong project idea that meets the program criteria. Applications must be submitted through Good Grants, NIHCM's online entry system, no later than October 2, 2026, at 5:00 PM ET. Applications are welcome at any time before the deadline. Applicants must submit a separate application for each proposed project. The application requests basic information about the submitter and general information and questions concerning the proposed project. Applicants may complete a submission in stages. While work remains incomplete, the Submission Dashboard shows the application status as "Draft." Once a finalized application is submitted, its status changes to "Submitted," and the submitter receives a confirmation email. After submission, applicants cannot make additional revisions through the system. If an applicant submits a draft in error or needs to revise an application before the entry deadline, the applicant should contact Stryker-Ann Vosteen at svosteen@nihcm.org. NIHCM will contact an applicant if it identifies an application problem, such as an illegible upload. Proposals will be evaluated for the significance of the topic or objective, likely impact, qualifications of key personnel, dissemination plans and target audiences, timeliness, and budget. Reviewers will consider whether deliverables can advance understanding of health care management by the private sector, health care affordability, or the effects of rising health care prices on quality and access. They will also assess whether dissemination can maximize impact, including whether a project serves a unique or underserved audience, whether the proposed timeline is realistic, and whether requested support is consistent with project scope. NIHCM expects funded projects to produce timely results, and projects should be published within one year of the grant being awarded. The application deadline is October 2, 2026, at 5:00 PM ET, and NIHCM expects to notify grant winners in December 2026. The supplied information does not state that the program is rolling or establish a recurring annual schedule for future rounds. Questions about the journalism grant initiative should be directed to Cait Ellis at cellis@nihcm.org, with "JOURNALISM GRANT QUESTION" in the subject line. Technical questions about the Good Grants entry system should be directed to Stryker-Ann Vosteen at svosteen@nihcm.org. NIHCM Foundation's listed telephone number is 202-296-4426.

Demonstrate that the topic or objective is significant and that the project can produce meaningful impact; show that key personnel have the experience needed to complete the work; provide dissemination plans that reach appropriate target audiences and maximize impact, including unique or underserved audiences where applicable; propose a realistic timeline that produces timely results; keep requested support consistent with project scope and demonstrate budget efficiency relative to expected impact.