NIHCM Foundation supports innovative, independent, investigator-initiated research with a high potential to inform improvements to the United States health care system.
GRANTS PROVIDE FUNDING FOR:
- Projects that advance the evidence-base in areas such as health care financing, affordability, delivery, management and/or policy
Interested researchers must submit a brief letter of inquiry (LOI) outlining their study idea by 5:00 PM EDT on July 18, 2025.
WE ARE CURRENTLY REQUESTING LETTERS OF INQUIRY FOR PROJECTS IN THE FOLLOWING TOPIC AREAS
- Drug pricing and affordability: Research that examines 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 & market power: Research that evaluates the effects of health care competition and consolidation on costs, price variation, quality of care, and patient access.
- Health care delivery: Research that assesses the adoption, challenges, and outcomes of care delivery models—including value-based care and hybrid care models—in reducing health care costs, while also improving health care efficiency, quality, and patient outcomes. We are especially interested in research on how prior authorization protocols can optimize for both affordable coverage and high-quality care.
- Chronic disease management: Research that addresses the challenges and opportunities in managing chronic diseases and their associated costs, while improving patient outcomes and health care efficiencies.
- Artificial Intelligence: Research that explores 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.
Individual researchers and all types of organizations and institutions, including nonprofit and for-profit entities, are eligible to apply.
NIHCM is making a total of $500,000 available this cycle, with most individual grants awarded in the $50,000 - $60,000 range.