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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| State Rep. Tony DeLuca, Chairman Insurance Committee
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DeLuca says mediation and arbitration may be answer
to hospital/insurer contract disputes
HARRISBURG, Dec. 12 – State Rep. Tony DeLuca, D-Allegheny, said today that legislation strengthening state law will help protect patients and the care they receive.
"The bipartisan legislation (H.B. 2052) is based on a proposal I have pushed for the past six months," DeLuca said. "The dispute between UPMC and Highmark has endangered the care of close to 2 million people in western Pennsylvania.
"People are worried they will lose access to UPMC’s 3,000 doctors and 20 hospitals because these two businesses can’t – or won’t – come to an agreement. Even if people can still access those doctors, they may not be able to afford to pay the high fees that will occur when those doctors are out of their insurance network,” said DeLuca, Democratic chairman of the House Insurance Committee.
The committee held a series of public hearings to gather information on ways to get everyone back to the table to resolve this dispute. The committee heard from UPMC and Highmark, as well as the state Insurance and Health departments. Several hearings were also held by the state Senate.
"UPMC and Highmark are still not back at the table," DeLuca said. "The proposed legislation could require the parties to submit to mediation by the Insurance Department. The state secretary of Health could also request binding arbitration.
"This is too serious of an issue and plays with the lives of too many families," DeLuca said. "That is why we took action today and voted this bill out of the Insurance Committee."
DeLuca is hopeful H.B. 2052 will be voted by the full House of Representatives and sent to the Senate before the holiday recess.
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