Research & Demonstration Grant Options

The research programs at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) help develop, test, and implement new health care financing and payment policies. They also evaluate the impact of CMS programs on beneficiaries, providers, States, and other customers and partners. The scope of these activities embraces all areas of health care: costs, access, quality, service delivery models, and financing and payment approaches.

Generally, the Agency's extramural research and demonstration activities, such as evaluations, demonstration implementation, and research studies, are funded through contracts. CMS awards grants and cooperative agreements under certain specific, focused programs, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic research organizations and earmarks mandated by Congress.

In addition, CMS periodically issues special-purpose grant announcements inviting applications to participate in specific Medicare and Medicaid demonstration projects.

In recent years there has been a sharp reduction in research grants, with most awards stemming from a specific CMS solicitation or Congressional appropriation request. Unsolicited proposals are unlikely to be funded.

Because most extramural research funding uses the CMS contracts mechanism rather than the grants process, those interested in conducting research on behalf of CMS might want to look at the contracts section of the CMS website in the Related Links Inside CMS below, or directly at the Fed Biz Opps announcements link in the Related Links Outside CMS below.

If you are interested in submitting a general grant application, you may download a full set of the required applications forms from the downloads area below.