Highmark-UPMC deal covers something new: Out-of-network emergency department visits

PITTSBURGH — Of the many points Highmark and UPMC agreed to in the flurry of negotiations that preceded Monday's 10-year agreement, one will help clear a major worry from some Highmark members who have to go to a UPMC hospital for emergency care after July 1: there will be no balance billing.

For the Highmark members who have chosen the broadest (and often more expensive) range of coverage, they won't have to worry. All UPMC facilities will be considered in-network. But for the Highmark members who have narrower, limited networks of providers and facilities, this would have been out-of-network. But not now, thanks to the agreement, said Highmark SVP Tom Fitzpatrick.

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