NIHCM: Journalism Grants

NIHCM: Journalism Grants

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: The National Institute for Health Care Management
Last Updated: September 22, 2025

Summary

The NIHCM Journalism Grants support projects that enhance health reporting and education, targeting critical issues such as healthcare affordability, pharmaceutical pricing, provider market dynamics, and chronic disease management. This initiative emphasizes the importance of informing policymakers and the public on how to improve healthcare quality and access in the U.S. Proposals may also explore the role of artificial intelligence in healthcare delivery. Applications are welcome from journalists, nonprofits, and universities.

Overview

Journalism Grants NIHCM Foundation supports health reporting and education projects for journalists that have the potential to inform managed care organizations, policymakers, health care consumers, and related stakeholders to improve the affordability and quality of U.S. health care, as well as raise awareness about health issues in ways that improve health and health care. We are specifically interested in the topic areas described below: Affordability:Reporting or education projects that may inform policymakers, the health care industry, and the public about the many factors that impact the affordability of health care, and/or health care costs.Pharmaceuticals: Reporting or education projects that examine the factors influencing drug pricing, patents, pricing transparency, and policy interventions aimed at improving access to affordable medications. We are especially interested in work on GLP-1 agonists and related medications.Provider consolidation and changing markets: Reporting or education projects that look at the effects of health care competition and consolidation on costs, price variation, quality of care, and patient access.Health care delivery: Reporting or education projects that will increase policymaker, industry, and public understanding of the value and challenges of different methods of providing quality health care. Areas of interest include how different models of care may reduce health care costs, while also improving health care efficiency, quality, and patient outcomes.Chronic disease management:Reporting or education projects that examine the challenges and opportunities associated with managing chronic diseases and related costs, while improving patient outcomes and health care efficiencies.Artificial Intelligence: Reporting or education projects that explore the transformative potential of artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve health care delivery, efficiency, patient outcomes, and/or the potential challenges that AI introduces in terms of costs, quality of care, or security.We are especially interested in research on how the use of AI with electronic health records may be increasing coding intensity in the commercially insured population. We will also accept proposals outside of these specific topic areas that meet the general criteria of focusing on rising health care costs and affordability, through improved health care management, financing, delivery and organization.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. We welcome applications from journalists from national and local print, digital, and broadcast outlets, both nonprofit and for-profit news organizations, as well as freelancers (letters of interest or commitment are encouraged). We also welcome applications from universities, nonprofits and documentary filmmakers. What type of support will be available?Support can be used for reporting, writing, data visualizations, very short videos, and documentary engagement support/promotion (but not full production costs). Proposed projects must address some aspect of health care management, financing, delivery and organization, affordability, and/or rising health care costs; with an eye toward how this work can help managed care organizations, policymakers, and related stakeholders improve the affordability and quality of U.S. health care.

Ineligibility

Proposals that do not focus on the United States will not be considered.NIHCM Foundation does not pay indirect costs to journalism grantee organizations. Exceptions may be made on an individual basis if your organization requires an indirect cost rate. NIHCM Foundation will consider indirect costs up to a maximum of 12 percent of direct costs.