LARAMIE – In 2025 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Wyoming will celebrate its 80th year doing business in the state.

For over a half-century, the non-profit health insurer has been a corporate partner of the University of Wyoming Athletics.

UW's "One Wyoming" brand as the only four-year university in the state has a common theme to BCBSWY, which is the only health insurance company headquartered in the state that offers products across Wyoming and is only licensed to do business in Wyoming.

"Those Wyoming ties and those Wyoming roots run really deep between us and the university," BCBS President & CEO Diane Gore said. "I think it goes back to what the university represents to people across the state. We have a lot of those same values, and we try to represent that same homegrown Wyoming image.

"It has been a great partnership, and it fits really well."

BCBSWY sponsored the Cowboys' Sept. 7 home football game against Idaho at War Memorial Stadium.

It was the fourth year that the company partnered with the Wyoming Hunger Initiative with the "Tackle Hunger" event where fans coming to the game were asked to bring food to donate, including prepackaged items from Ridley's Family Markets.

"Through that we were able to raise about 22,000 pounds of food," Gore said. "Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming also contributed $50,000 on top of that to Wyoming Hunger Initiative. All of the prepackaged food was able to go to local food pantries and then the $50,000 corporate gift is being used by Wyoming Hunger Initiative to support Thanksgiving meals for families across the entire state."

BCBSWY also sponsors basketball games each season as part of the "Hearts for Hunger" promotion benefiting the Wyoming Hunger Initiative.

Fans can purchase $5 hearts during the Cowgirls' Jan. 15 game against Nevada and the Cowboys' Jan. 28 game against Fresno State at the Arena-Auditorium.

The donor's names (or the name of their choice) will be put on each heart, which will be hung in the Wyoming State Capitol throughout the 2025 legislative session.

"We also match the purchase of those hearts," Gore noted. "We really like being able to leverage our sponsorships because it makes it more than just about us, it makes it more about the state of Wyoming and the well-being of the state of Wyoming. Our partnership with the Hunger Initiative is another area where it aligns very closely with the university because we have similar goals to where we want people across the state to be able to lead healthy lives. One way that you can lead a healthy life is through access to food."

UW and BCBSWY have also recently aligned with the Jae Foundation, a non-profit focused on mental health awareness, suicide prevention and healing for those who have lost loved ones.

Several members of the Cowboy football and men's basketball teams attended a Jae Foundation event in Pinedale this summer.

"That was a great introduction to Wyoming," senior forward Cole Henry said of his experience. "I've rode horses back home through pastures and corn fields and timber, but riding horses through a mountain valley, I'm getting chills just talking about it. It was the most beautiful fun experience I've ever had in my life."

Henry and other Pokes also had a chance to learn about mental health and inspire some of the state's youth. BCBSWY is also supporting the Jae Foundation's mission this year.

"That's kind of another tie-in that we have to what the university is doing," Gore said. "Increasing awareness of mental health issues is really important to us as well."

BCBSWY also gives back to the university by providing scholarship opportunities for students interested in graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing or a Master of Science in Doctor of Nursing Practice.

"With that our goals are really to create additional access to health care in Wyoming," Gore said.
Over the last 50 years, the Cowboys and Cowgirls have experienced the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat many times.
BCBSWY has been there as a partner throughout.
"We're in this for the long term, whether athletics goes up or down we're committed," Gore said. "One of our goals behind all of this is that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming resonates with people across the state. I think having the university project that as well is a good thing."
Open enrollment for BCBSWY plans begins Nov. 1 and runs through Jan. 15. For more information go to: https://www.bcbswy.com/