HARRISBURG – Attorney General Dave Sunday announced a settlement that will protect patients, physicians, and health plans potentially impacted by West Virginia University Health System’s acquisition of Independence Health System’s Excela and Butler Health Systems.
WVUHS announced plans to acquire the two systems that include five hospitals and serve a population of nearly one million across several counties in Western Pennsylvania.
The Office of Attorney General’s Public Protection Division reviewed the transaction and — advocating for patients — reached a number of conditions agreed to by WVUHS in the form of an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance filed in court this week.
Among the key conditions are agreements that IHS hospitals and facilities will remain open for at least five years and contracts with health insurance plans will be negotiated in good faith.
“When hospital systems change ownership, there is always the potential for impacts on patient access to care,” Attorney General Sunday said. “The Excela and Butler Health Systems served numerous Pennsylvanians and families in several counties, so we wanted to be sure those people were not harmed by this transaction. This agreement maintains access to high-quality health care services for the communities served by the hospitals.”
The settlement agreement includes but is not limited to the following:
- WVUHS will continue to maintain services at IHS hospitals and other facilities for at least five years and provide notice to the Office of Attorney General of any significant changes in services.
- WVUHS will implement and maintain a policy that prohibits the sharing of competitively sensitive information between its insurance and provider subsidiaries.
- WVUHS must negotiate in good faith with health insurance plans with a last best offer binding arbitration backstop if needed.
- WVUHS cannot impose any anti-tiering, anti-steering, gag clauses, most favored nation clauses, exclusivity, and all or nothing terms in their contracts with health plans.
- WVUHS cannot terminate any existing IHS, Excela and Butler contracts other than for cause.
- WVUHS agrees to maintain charity care and financial assistance policies consistent with guidance from the PA Department of Human Services and disclose those policies to patients upon their registration for admission.
- WVUHS agrees that any restricted funds for IHS, Excela and Butler will be used according to the respective restrictions or similar purposes as applicable.
The settlement was filed in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania on August 31, 2026, by the OAG’s Public Protection Division.
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