Pittsburgh-based UPMC has tentatively agreed to pay $12.5 million to settle an antitrust lawsuit that was filed more than five years ago, according to a Trib Live report.
The lawsuit was brought by Cole's Wexford Hotel and alleges a conspiracy between UPMC and Pittsburgh-based Highmark allowed their for-profit subsidiaries to overcharge customers for premiums by keeping competing insurers out of the local market. The hotel bought group health insurance from Highmark Health Insurance between 2010 and 2012.
The tentative agreement, which does not include Highmark, requests the lawsuit be put on hold for 90 days while UPMC and the hotel work out the details of the settlement, according to the report.
Both UPMC and Highmark have denied the allegations in the lawsuit.
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