Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane said she will not take action against the recent merger between University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Altoona (Pa.) Regional Health System, but she and her office will "monitor" the situation to ensure no residents in the Altoona area lose access to care.
Altoona Regional officially became UPMC Altoona Monday, which ended almost two years of merger discussions.
Ms. Kane said a major reason why the merger will be watched closely is because roughly 60 percent of insured residents in UPMC Altoona's county have Highmark coverage. UPMC and Highmark have been battling over rates and lawsuits for the past several years, and she said their disputes should not negatively affect how patients receive care at their local hospital.
"The public, in a sense, paid for the hospitals in the Altoona area through their charitable donations and the tax breaks those facilities received," Ms. Kane said in a news release. "If segments of the public were to be shut out from some hospitals, simply because big companies are in a battle for market share, that would be highly unfair."
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