Deadline Date: June 8, 2026
The NIHCM Foundation Policy Research Grants program is seeking applications to support investigator-initiated health policy research aimed at generating evidence to improve the affordability, accessibility, and quality of health care in the United States.
The programme focuses on health care costs and quality through research on drivers of rising spending, policy effectiveness in controlling costs, and interventions to reduce low-value care, health care consolidation by examining the impact of competition, ownership, and consolidation on costs, access, workforce dynamics, quality, and outcomes, artificial intelligence in health care including opportunities for cost savings, reduced administrative burden, improved access and outcomes, and challenges such as spending increases and quality control, prescription drugs and technology focusing on pricing, utilization, outcomes, and policy effectiveness to improve access and affordability, rural health addressing challenges in costs, access, consolidation, and quality along with the impact of telehealth, workforce development, and care coordination innovations, and maternal health exploring disparities, care delivery, access to high-value care, outcomes, and cost implications of public and private initiatives.
The NIHCM Foundation provides funding to support innovative, solutions-oriented policy research projects that strengthen the evidence base for health care decision-making. The goal is to produce actionable insights, data analysis, and research findings that are relevant to health plans, policymakers, health care delivery systems, and other stakeholders involved in shaping the U.S. health care system.
The funding opportunity supports a broad range of research topics that address critical challenges in the health care system. These include understanding the factors driving health care spending, evaluating policy interventions, analyzing system-level changes such as consolidation, and exploring emerging technologies and their implications for health outcomes and costs.
A key focus of the programme is the role of artificial intelligence in health care delivery and administration. Research is encouraged to explore both the potential benefits, such as efficiency improvements and expanded access, and the risks, including cost escalation and quality control concerns.
The programme also prioritizes research into prescription drugs and health technologies, particularly their impact on affordability and utilization. This includes evaluating policy measures designed to improve access while managing overall system costs.
Rural health is another important area of interest, with emphasis on understanding structural challenges and identifying innovative solutions such as telehealth expansion, workforce development, and improved care coordination. The aim is to improve health care delivery and outcomes in rural communities.
Maternal health research is also a priority, focusing on disparities in outcomes and the effectiveness of initiatives designed to improve care during pregnancy and the postpartum period, as well as infant health outcomes.
The NIHCM Foundation has allocated a total of $500,000 for the 2026–2027 Policy Research Grant cycle, with most individual awards typically around $50,000. Applications are evaluated based on the efficiency of the proposed budget in relation to the expected impact and scope of the research project.
The programme is open to individual researchers as well as nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Joint applications are permitted, provided one organization serves as the principal applicant while others participate as subcontract partners. There is no restriction on the number of submissions an applicant may make, allowing broad participation across institutions and researchers.
For more information, visit NIHCM Foundation.
