I recently received a letter from UPMC, which not only stated that Highmark is wrong but also enclosed a copy of the Post Gazette editorial against Highmark’s new Community Blue Medicare HMO program that excludes all UPMC’s doctors and hospitals.
Choosing this plan they say will prevent you from affordably accessing UPMC’s services, ranging from the Hillman Cancer Center to UPMC’s designated National Center of Excellence in Geriatric Medicine, because all of UPMC is out-of-network for Highmark’s Community Blue Medicare HMO product. Out-of-network means you could be forced to pay large medical bills to receive care from UPMC doctors and hospitals, the letter said.
They go on to state that the Attorney General, and the Insurance Commissioner are suing Highmark because they are in violation of the Consent Decree that they signed this summer.
Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this the same thing UPMC is doing when they force you to change hospitals and doctors which aren’t UPMC doctors or hospitals? My company has UPMC, and I have no problem with them as a whole. But I do have a problem when I live blocks from Allegheny General but can’t go there. I have a problem when I have a doctor I’m completely satisfied with but have to change because he’s not a UPMC doctor nor can a UPMC approved doctor do any kind of procedures at AGH.
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