Article about continuing battles between Highmark and UPMC

[JPZenger]

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2015/05/highmark_upmc_pittsburgh_netwo.html#incart_river

The war has gotten quieter on TV, but it continues in the marketplace.

[femmocrat]

1. A pox on both of their houses.

For your sakes in central PA, I hope this battle doesn't come east. This war between Highmark and UPMC has been a huge f*ck-up for patients and consumers. When Highmark jacked up our rates (by a lot!), we switched to UPMC. Now UPMC won't pay for some of my prescriptions that I have taken for years and years.

Also, Corbett worked out a consent decree for cancer and Medicare patients (to continue treatment) that one of them wasn't honoring. Then Wolf got some kind of agreement that supposedly let them continue care. Kathleen Kane is running some kind of ads about it in western PA. I doubt if anyone knows wtf is going on anymore.

They are both greedy, evil, and ruthless corporations that don't give a crap about the people who need their care.

Here is an article about Wolf's dealings with them: http://triblive.com/business/headlines/7908867-74/upmc-highmark-patients#axzz3bSCGmQua

[blue neen]

2. This part of the article is quite telling:

"UPMC's Romoff seems to relish in the split, although he claims it's not his goal to be "the last man standing." He credits Highmark with being a strong and capable company. "No one is going to get killed, just injured," he says."

"Martin Gaynor, a health care economist at Carnegie Mellon, is a critic of giant health care organizations, arguing that even as non-profits, they generally don't hold down prices if given the chance. He believes competition is the only thing that can keep them in check. In his view, it would probably be best to break up both UPMC and Highmark."

"Told of Romoff's contention that full-on competition between Highmark and UPMC is best for western Pennsylvania consumers, Gaynor expresses doubt."

"I think he wants to be the last man standing. I think that's his goal," he says of Romoff."


Mr. Romoff made 6.5 million dollars last year to play with western Pennsylvanian's lives, patients', doctors', employees' (which at one point UPMC declared they didn't have employees!). Just announced this week:

*UPMC Offering Buyouts to 3500 Employees in Cost-Cutting Move*

Yep, 3500 people who have worked for UPMC for a long time are losing their jobs. Too bad Mr. Romoff doesn't lose his.

http://triblive.com/business/headlines/8442119-74/upmc-health-largest#axzz3bSKDDRY9