The West Penn Allegheny Health System has filed a lawsuit against the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, a Pittsburgh-based integrated global health enterprise and nonprofit health system, and Pittsburgh-based health insurer Highmark, Inc., charging them with conspiracy and antitrust.
WPAHS officials say the two parties "have conspired to protect one another from competition," with the result that "an increasingly exploited Pittsburgh community has suffered rising healthcare costs."
"We file this action to bring to light and to rectify a situation that has harmed the West Penn Allegheny Health System and the entire western Pennsylvania community," said David L. McClenahan, chairman of the board of directors of WPAHS. "We believe that for several years UPMC and Highmark have engaged in mutual back-scratching designed to preserve Highmark's monopoly in health insurance and to permit UPMC to build a monopoly in sophisticated tertiary and quaternary healthcare in this region. In healthcare, as in all industries, monopolies hurt everyone except the monopolists because they tend inevitably to increase the price and reduce the quality of the product."
The lawsuit requests that the conduct of the two parties be examined before a jury, that the court order Highmark and UPMC to end their predatory conduct, and that appropriate damages be awarded to West Penn Allegheny.
"West Penn Allegheny continues to make significant progress in transforming the system through the integration of its services and the establishment of a physician-led organization. The purpose of WPAHS has been and will always be to improve the health of the people of western Pennsylvania. This commitment will not be diminished by organizations that are interested first and foremost in dominating the marketplace," said McClenahan.