Right now, the Board of Altoona Regional Health System is considering a merger with UPMC. For years, UPMC has been growing its empire by buying up hospitals here in Pennsylvania and around the world. It looks like we could be next on their list.

For families like mine that have Highmark insurance, an affiliation with UPMC comes with a lot of questions. Will we be able to continue to see our doctors? Will our healthcare costs go up?

We need a written guarantee from UPMC that people with Highmark insurance continue to have fair and affordable access to Altoona Hospital. This is our hospital. We built it and we need to know what is going to happen before a decision is made.

Do You Have the Right Card?

UPMC has said it won’t renew its contract with Highmark at the end of 2014. Sound unbelievable? Just last month, UPMC told Highmark Community Blue subscribers in Pittsburgh they could no longer see their UPMC doctors, even if they paid cash, because they carried the “wrong” insurance card.

If UPMC makes good on its threats to cut off patients insured with Highmark, thousands of Blair County families may also lose access to UPMC facilities—including ARHS if it is owned by UPMC.

Higher Healthcare Charges

The charges for care at UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside in Pittsburgh are among the highest in the region—with some procedures at UPMC’s flagship hospital costing more than double those found at other hospitals in the area. This means not only increased costs for health insurers that may be passed onto subscribers, but it can hit uninsured and out-of-network patients particularly hard.