Health Coverage Fellowship

The Health Coverage Fellowship is designed to help journalists do an even better job covering critical health issues. The program is newly hosted by the Center for Health Communication at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

About the fellowship

Each year thirteen journalists—from print, broadcast, and online news outlets as well as freelancers—are selected for an intensive nine days and nights of training in Boston. 

Over the course of the fellowship, these journalists hear from dozens of health officials, practitioners, researchers, and patients on issues such as mental health, pandemics, breakthrough treatments, climate-related health impacts, healthcare disparities, women’s health, and aging. And they get to watch first-hand how the system works, whether by walking the streets at night with doctors who treat the homeless or visiting labs that make stem cells and vaccines.

Journalists leave the fellowship with a notebook full of story ideas, a year’s worth of mentoring by veteran health journalist and fellowship director Larry Tye, and a new community of like-minded journalists.

What sets the fellowship apart

Most journalism fellowship programs take seasoned journalists away from their jobs for a full year, require employers to pay part of the cost, and do little practical training. The residential part of the Health Coverage Fellowship lasts just nine days, the program requires no financial contribution from media outlets, and the training ensures that reporters and editors come back with a list of story ideas and an address book full of new sources.

The 2025 fellows

The 2025 fellows are Lynh Bui of the Washington Post, Jennifer Calfas of the Wall Street Journal, Tiziana Dearing of Boston’s WBUR, Gwen Dilworth of Mississippi Today, Jamie Gumbrecht of CNN, Jason Laughlin of the Boston Globe, Natasha Loder of The Economist, Christine Mai-Duc of KFF Health News, Stephen Simpson of the Texas Tribune, William Skipworth of the New Hampshire Bulletin, Will Stone of NPR, Laura Tillman of the Connecticut Mirror, and Dorcas Wangira of BBC-Africa.

The fellowship’s impact on health journalism

Founded in 2002 by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, the Health Coverage Fellowship has trained more than 275 leading health journalists from across the nation.

Our supporters

The 2025 program was made possible thanks to generous support from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, Bower Foundation in Mississippi, Connecticut Health Foundation, Endowment for Health in New Hampshire, Fledgling Fund, KFF, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Rita Allen Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and, in Texas, the Episcopal Health Foundation, Congregational Collective at the H.E. Butt Foundation, Methodist Healthcare Ministries, and St. David’s Foundation.

How to apply

Applications are closed for the 2025 program. Please check back in late 2025 for details on how to apply for the 2026 program.

Learn more

To get a better sense of the fellowship, have a look at our most recent schedule. 

Want to learn more about the fellowship or how to support its work? Contact Larry Tye at larrytye@gmail.com.