Pennsylvania lawmakers have crafted legislation to end the dispute between Pittsburgh-based Highmark and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, according to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report.
The two bills, co-sponsored by Rep. Dan Frankel (D) and Rep. Jim Christiana (R), would require hospitals and physician-owned practices that are part of integrated delivery networks to contract with any willing insurer. UPMC would fit the bills' hospital description, and the legislation, if signed into law, would force UPMC to contract with Highmark.
The contract between Highmark and UPMC expires at the end of 2014. If the two don't arrive at a new contract before then, many Highmark customers won't have in-network access to UPMC physicians and hospitals. UPMC, which has the second-largest health plan in the area, has said it wants to walk away from the contract upon its expiration, while Highmark instead seems to favor a forced resolution.
UPMC officials have said the legislation would make Pennsylvania the lone state to pass such a requirement, which would harm competition among payers, according to the report. A spokesman for the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania also told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the organization opposes the bills due to their potential affects on competition.
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