Health task force examines how data can help rural healthcare

CHEYENNE — The Health Insurance Affordability Task Force met Thursday to discuss ways to make health insurance more affordable for people across Wyoming.

The state task force was created to address the complexities of rising medical costs and insurance premiums in the state, partly due to geographical isolation affecting the cost of care. Wyoming ranks fourth in the nation concerning hospital availability, but 36th for affordability.

Compared to more urban states, Wyoming’s lack of population density and accessibility in rural areas makes the healthcare infrastructure significantly more expensive to maintain.

The discussion Thursday morning centered on the American Hospital Association Report presented by Eric Boley, president of the Wyoming Hospital Association. He was joined by Jeff Grandia and John Wadsworth, joint co-founders of REDi Health, who help rural hospitals turn data into actionable insights. REDi Health has been acting as a consultant with rural Wyoming hospitals, helping them understand costs and what is driving them.

Boley started by discussing the difficult experience he and his family had, trying to get a diagnosis concerning their son’s illness, which took more than two years. He described how it took months to see some specialists, while his 13-year-old son struggled to get out of bed.

His son was eventually diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, and he stressed how they were fortunate to have insurance and went through the process of receiving prior authorizations for procedures.

His experience led him to the conclusion that “the system is pretty broken, and I feel for the patients, and feel like we can do better, and that’s what I hope comes out of this from the hospital and the healthcare side to the insurance side.”

On this issue of primary care, Boley touched on the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHT), a federal program from 2026 to 2030 that awarded Wyoming $205 million. The program aims to upgrade medical technology, stabilize rural workforces and improve healthcare access in rural areas.

Boley explained how much of the money Wyoming received went toward Federally Qualified Health Centers and increasing access to primary care. He also noted how they hope the funds can also help address Wyoming’s OB-GYN deserts.

Another topic was denials of coverage by insurers and the role new technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) is playing in healthcare. He explained how AI was used to automatically deny 50% of claims without being reviewed, with 80% of those claims to be overturned on appeal. Boley argued “there’s this practice of denying, delaying and then defending,” shifting the burden to the policyholder to appeal any denial.

An example he gave concerned a hospital in Saratoga he visited, where nurses “were on the phone eight hours a day working with the insurance companies, trying to get prior authorizations, trying to get denials overturned and working on the appellate process.”

This also takes nurses away from their priority, providing care. This is especially concerning when you consider the shortage of healthcare workers in the state.

Wadsworth suggested providing training to healthcare workers so they could understand their own data, regarding where and why shortfalls in the process were occurring.

Wadsworth responded to Sen. Nethercott, R-Cheyenne, who raised concerns of how to turn data insights into legislation that could work to address the issues.

He emphasized, “We don’t believe that these problems are beyond your abilities to understand and improve. We’ve learned that the complexity is manageable if we can break it down, follow the care, follow the data, and follow the dollar.”

© 2026 Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne, Wyo.). Visit www.wyomingnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.