| Opportunity announced | January 12, 2026 |
| Proposals due | March 2, 2026 |
| Grant recipients announced | April 2026 |
| Projects begin | Spring 2026 |
| Awards | $500,000 total pool for up to five awards |
Summary
The California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) is an independent philanthropy dedicated to advancing measurable improvements in the health care delivery system for the people of California, particularly those with low incomes and those not well served by the status quo.
CHCF has created an affordability research funding pool for researchers interested in using California’s new Healthcare Payments Database (HPD) to study consumer affordability challenges, systemwide cost drivers in the state, or both. In spring 2025, $500k in funding was awarded, and up to $500k will be awarded in spring 2026. This RFP is intended to identify up to five grantees for awards that will be announced in April 2026.
Initial award decisions will be made by CHCF but not finalized until projects have been separately and formally approved by the California Department of Health Care Access and Information’s (HCAI) HPD Data Release Committee. Awards may be used to offset HPD data fees and grantee research time. Applicants should plan to utilize dissemination channels outside CHCF’s traditional publication pipeline (e.g., peer-reviewed journal submission, non-CHCF issue brief) for the results of their work.
This funding pool does not preclude funding of additional projects utilizing HPD or other data sources that CHCF may consider and fund through its programmatic work.
Project Background
The Healthcare Payments Database is California’s all-payer claims database, or APCD. The HPD is a research database comprised of healthcare administrative data, including claims and encounter data generated by transactions among payers and providers on behalf of insured patients.
California’s HPD includes billions of claim and encounter records submitted from California payers, including Medi-Cal managed care plans. The most recent year of data includes claims and encounters for 36.3 million Californians, including 14.8 million Medi-Cal enrollees.
A well-defined set of criteria, policies, and procedures governs access to and release of nonpublic HPD data. Users can apply for access to a secure data enclave with statistical tools (e.g., Python, R, SAS, SQL, Stata) and processes for linking to external data sets.
The application process for research access to nonpublic HPD data opened in 2024. Applications will be reviewed by HCAI, the California Department of Health Care Services, and a data release committee made up of subject matter experts representing key stakeholder groups.
California Healthcare Payments Database Affordability Research Fund
CHCF has created an affordability research funding pool for researchers interested in using California’s HPD to study consumer affordability challenges, systemwide cost drivers in the state, or both. In spring 2025, $500k of this funding was awarded, and up to $500k will be awarded in spring 2026.
Initial award decisions will be made by CHCF but not finalized until projects have been separately and formally approved by HCAI’s HPD Data Release Committee. Awards may be used to offset HPD data fees and grantee research time. Applicants should plan to utilize dissemination channels outside CHCF’s traditional publication pipeline (e.g., peer-reviewed journal submission, non-CHCF issue brief) for the results of their work.
CHCF welcomes applications from a broad group of researchers, including those earlier in their careers and those whose research interests include health care affordability challenges among historically disadvantaged groups.
This funding pool does not preclude funding of additional projects utilizing HPD or other data sources that CHCF may consider and fund through its programmatic work.
Proposal Packet
Those interested should include the following materials in the proposal packet:
- Proposal cover sheet (available at https://www.chcf.org/grantinfo/solicited). This does not count toward the five-page limit.
- Proposal narrative. The proposal narrative should be no more than five pages of text, single-spaced, in a 12-point font. Applicants are expected to honor the space limitations. The proposal narrative should describe:
- Overall project design and approach. Please describe your key research question(s), analysis plan, and potential dissemination channel (e.g., manuscript for consideration in a peer review journal, non-CHCF issue brief). Key questions to address include these:
- What research question(s) does your project intend to answer?
- What, if any, research has already been published related to your proposed research question(s)?
- Which specific data elements from the HPD (and other linked sources, if applicable) will be used in your analysis? (The HPD uses the APCD Common Data Layout for claims and encounter data submission.)
- What analytic plan or statistical methodology will be employed to answer your research questions?
- How do you expect the results of your research to contribute to any of these: the field of health services research, health policymaking related to consumer affordability challenges, systemwide health care cost drivers?
- Work plan for the project. Please describe time frames and deliverables based on the activities described above.
- The challenges you see in this work and how to address them.
- The qualifications, capacities, and roles of your key team members. Describe any relevant experience with large data sets, analytic studies, or health services research studies focused on consumer affordability challenges or systemwide health care cost drivers.
- Overall project design and approach. Please describe your key research question(s), analysis plan, and potential dissemination channel (e.g., manuscript for consideration in a peer review journal, non-CHCF issue brief). Key questions to address include these:
- Appendices. Appendices do not count toward the five-page limit.
- Brief bio-sketch or CV. Include a brief bio-sketch or CV for all key team members.
- Budget form and budget narrative description. Please submit a detailed budget and budget narrative for the entire length of the project. Line-item and time-and-materials budget forms are available at https://www.chcf.org/grantinfo/solicited/.
- Links to sample written work product, if available.
Submission Guidelines
Proposals must be emailed in ONE PDF file to Diana Banki, program associate (dbanki@chcf.org), no later than 12 pm Pacific Standard Time on Monday, March 2, 2026. Proposals will be acknowledged by a return email within 24 hours. Hard copies will not be accepted.
Selection Criteria
The review committee will use the following criteria to assess proposals:
- Methodological soundness of proposed project design and approach
- Potential relevance of results to the field of health services research or state policymaking
- Appropriateness of proposed budget and project timeline
Due to the anticipated volume of submissions, CHCF will not provide individual critiques of proposals submitted. Initial award decisions will be made by CHCF but not finalized until projects have been separately and formally approved by HCAI’s HPD Data Release Committee.
For More Information
For questions about the project or the proposal submission process, contact Diana Banki at dbanki@chcf.org