by Katie Klingsporn, WyoFile
Wyoming’s application for up to $800 million in federal money earmarked for rural health care focuses on stabilizing hospitals, bolstering preventative health, growing the workforce and using technology to improve access.
The state submitted its application Wednesday for money from the Rural Health Transformation Program, a new federal initiative created by President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Wyoming will learn its fate at the end of the year with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services expected to announce winners Dec. 31.
“Wyoming is taking full advantage of the Rural Health Transformation Program championed under President Trump,” Gov. Mark Gordon said in a statement Wednesday. “These funds will help us transform care for Wyoming families and keep critical services local, where they belong.”
The availability of federal funds comes at a time when Wyoming’s gaps in health care access have grown more conspicuous. From the long distances patients travel for care to nursing shortages to affordability concerns in hospitals, Wyoming has a laundry list of needs and challenges related to its health care network.
New health policies, such as the expiration of Affordable Care Act tax subsidies at the end of this year, are expected to exacerbate barriers to health care for many residents by hiking costs.
The opportunity
The Rural Health Transformation Program is designed to funnel $50 billion to states to stabilize and strengthen rural hospitals and providers. Program funding is intended to support priorities like chronic disease prevention, sustaining health care access, workforce development and technical assistance. Funding will be dispersed over five years.
The application was released in September, which created a short timeline for health officials to collect public feedback and determine the state’s priorities.
Banner Wyoming Medical Center volunteers Perry Propp and Patty Sanford help a patient with a question on Nov. 15, 2024. (Katie Klingsporn/WyoFile)
Starting in September, Wyoming Department of Health staff hosted eight in-person and three virtual meetings on the topic. Meetings took place from Newcastle to Lander, Buffalo to Saratoga. The state also received 1,300 responses to an online survey it circulated.
Five priorities emerged from the public meetings:
- Improve the financial viability of small rural hospitals to provide basic services.
- Expand affordable health insurance options.
- Recruit and retain primary care physicians.
- Train and recruit more nurses and direct care workforce.
- Strengthen OB-GYN services, labor and delivery and related care so women can safely deliver babies.
Health department staff condensed the priorities into four initiatives in the application.
The first is “improving access to basic medical care.” That entails consolidating and right-sizing Wyoming’s rural hospitals and EMS systems around sustainable payer sources with a focus on basic services, including maternity care.
The second is building up the state’s health care workforce. This initiative would expand educational opportunities for nurses, paramedics and other health professionals to smooth career pathways.
Third is improving residents’ health by promoting healthy diets, exercise and lifestyles. This would help Wyoming fight back against high diabetes and cardiovascular disease rates and alleviate pressure on the health care system.
The fourth initiative involves using technology to improve health care access and management of chronic disease.
“Our application reflects a clear vision for Wyoming’s healthcare future,” Gordon said in his statement. “Just as we have done with other transitory federal programs, we recognize this money is not forever and it is taxpayer money. So the investments we make must stand the test of time and not further burden our grandchildren.”
The holes
At the same time that the Big Beautiful Bill created the rural health fund, it also made changes that many say will make health care less accessible and less affordable, weakening the system and harming communities.
The act is projected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by $793 billion over 10 years, resulting in an estimated 10.3 million fewer people enrolled nationally. The cuts in the federal bill could cost Wyoming nearly 200 jobs per year and shrink the state’s economy by $140 million over five years, an economic analysis finds.
Enhanced premium tax credits on the Affordable Care marketplace are set to expire at the end of 2025 — and the act did not renew them. That will result in significant premium spikes for some patients, who are just seeing this week what their new plan costs will be. According to Healthy Wyoming, a 60-year-old couple with an annual income of $82,000 will face an increase of $37,422 in annual health care costs due to the tax credit loss. The premium increase for a 45-year-old who earns $62,000 annually could be upwards of $6,000.
Between 11,000-20,000 state residents are at risk of losing their coverage due to the anticipated marketplace cost increases, according to Healthy Wyoming.
Johnna French, a maternal child health nurse with Albany County, weighs and measures babies during home visits. (Tennessee Watson/WyoFile)
In the maternity care landscape, Banner Health announced in September that it would pause labor and delivery services at Platte County Hospital in Wheatland. It marked the fifth Wyoming hospital in recent history to shutter a birth facility.
A legislative committee will bring two bills in the 2026 session aimed at fortifying maternity care.
One would authorize freestanding birth centers to be covered by Medicaid for births handled by midwives.
The second bill, a divisive measure that ignited lengthy debate, would set rules and regulations aimed at protecting pregnancy centers, which are typically intended to discourage women from seeking abortions.
This article was originally published by WyoFile and is republished here with permission. WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.
