HARRISBURG — Attorney General Josh Shapiro today issued the following statement on his appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court seeking a review of the existing consent decrees between UPMC and Highmark:
“Last week’s Commonwealth Court ruling gave my Office the opportunity to quickly ask the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to review our proposed modification of the existing consent decrees between UPMC and Highmark. Today, we filed an appeal with the Supreme Court seeking emergency relief before the decrees’ June 30th scheduled expiration date or for the Court to keep the consent decrees in place while our litigation against UPMC proceeds.
“Despite its stated charitable mission, UPMC is spending exorbitant sums of money and countless hours on legal tactics aimed at preventing people from receiving care. I will keep fighting for the best interests of patients, payers and the public in Western Pennsylvania. This is one step in a complex legal process, and my Office remains confident in our case and committed to enforcing our Commonwealth’s charities laws to ensure Pennsylvanians have access to the facilities built with their tax dollars.”
Today’s action stems from a petition Attorney General Shapiro filed in February 2019 seeking to modify the consent decrees to ensure that UPMC abides by its charitable obligations to protect patient access to affordable care and facilities which they have funded through their tax dollars. Attorney General Shapiro’s appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court can be found here and here.
# # #