Boulder Care names Optum veteran Andy Kelly as first chief commercial officer

By AI, Created 9:39 AM UTC, May 20, 2026, /AGP/ – Boulder Care hired Andy Kelly as its first chief commercial officer to expand payer partnerships and value-based care contracts. The move comes as the telehealth addiction treatment provider pushes to scale its model with health plans and community partners.

Why it matters: - Boulder Care is trying to grow beyond direct patient care and deepen the health plan contracts that can widen access to addiction treatment. - The company is betting that payer partnerships tied to outcomes can help lower emergency care use, improve recovery rates and support broader adoption of telehealth-based addiction medicine.

What happened: - Boulder Care appointed Andy Kelly as its first chief commercial officer on May 7, 2026. - Kelly will oversee commercial strategy, including payer growth, partner success and community engagement. - Boulder Care said the role is designed to expand health plan partnerships and value-based care contracts.

The details: - Kelly joins Boulder Care after more than a decade in senior leadership roles at Optum and UnitedHealth Group. - At Optum Behavioral Health, Kelly served as senior vice president of provider enablement for Whole Health Solutions. - Kelly led more than 400 behavioral health value-based programs across all 50 states. - Kelly’s work included measurement and quality initiatives, value-based program strategy and practice management. - At UnitedHealth Group, Kelly focused on population health implementations, network builds and total cost of care initiatives. - Kelly began his career at Epic, where he helped large health systems implement electronic medical records nationwide. - Boulder Care treats opioid and alcohol use disorder through telehealth and says the model removes traditional barriers to care. - Boulder Care says its quality and effectiveness measures are in the 90th percentile for HEDIS measures. - Boulder Care says patients are three times more likely to remain in long-term recovery compared with NCQA quality benchmarks. - Boulder Care says its care model reduces emergency department and inpatient utilization. - Boulder Care says patients can start medication-based treatment the same day. - Kelly said 50 million Americans have a substance use disorder and 4 out of 5 people do not receive treatment. - Kelly said Boulder Care’s Pop-In Clinic approach can get new patients into recovery care within minutes. - Boulder Care says it partners with health plans and community organizations to offer affordable treatment across the U.S. - Boulder Care says its care teams provide low-barrier access to medication-based treatment and long-term support. - Boulder Care directs patients to more information and lists press contact at press@boulder.care. - Boulder Care also shared a LinkedIn page at the company’s social profile.

Between the lines: - The hire signals Boulder Care is moving to professionalize commercial operations as it tries to convert clinical outcomes into payer adoption. - Kelly’s background in behavioral health and value-based care fits Boulder Care’s pitch that addiction treatment can be measured, contracted and scaled like other parts of healthcare. - His remarks suggest Boulder Care wants to extend its model beyond opioid use disorder and into other condition areas.

What’s next: - Kelly will be responsible for expanding Boulder Care’s reach with payers and other partners. - Boulder Care appears focused on turning its outcomes data into more contracts and broader access for patients. - The company may use this hire to push its model into additional clinical areas beyond addiction treatment.

The bottom line: - Boulder Care is adding an experienced payer executive to turn strong treatment metrics into commercial growth.