Administration

OHR reaffirms service providers in the Highmark network

A letter recently sent from Highmark Blue Shield to the homes of some Penn State employees regarding the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and its status as a network provider with Highmark, may have caused some confusion among Penn State faculty and staff living in the Centre Region. Highmark is the University's health plan administrator.

The letter was sent to those Penn State employees who live in the western Pennsylvania Highmark service area, but also included employees in Blair, Centre, Clearfield and Huntingdon counties due to their proximity to a UPMC facility.

Most of the current contracts between Highmark and UPMC will expire on Dec. 31, 2014. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania issued a consent decree requiring Highmark and UPMC to work together to protect employees’ or family members’ access to UPMC providers, if they choose to seek care from UPMC.

More details about the consent decree are available at http://ohr.psu.edu/benefits/insurance/health/upmc-agreement/. It is important to note that the provider search tool listed on this website will help those in western Pennsylvania locate alternate physicians in their area who would be considered in-network in 2015 and hospitals at which those physicians have admitting privileges. It includes UPMC providers who will be considered in-network in 2015 based on provisions outlined in the consent decree. This provider search tool is not a full provider directory. The full provider directory can be found at:  https://provdir.highmarkblueshield.com/

If you live in Centre County, most likely the UPMC consent decree does not pertain to you unless you seek care from a UPMC physician currently or in the future. Non-UPMC providers (hospitals and doctors) with whom our employees and family members currently seek medical treatment remain in network with Highmark.  More specifically, Hershey Medical Center, Mount Nittany Medical Center and Geisinger are and will continue to be in-network providers for Highmark in 2015.

A full provider directory can be found at https://provdir.highmarkblueshield.com/.

If, in the future, a provider chooses to leave the Highmark network, Penn State employees will receive appropriate advance notification specifically for that provider. In addition, Penn State’s Medicare-eligible retirees are not affected by the UPMC situation, and UPMC will be considered in-network for Medicare-eligible retirees.

Anyone with additional questions should contact the Office of Human Resources, Employee Benefits Division at 814-865-1473 or email at benefits@psu.edu.

Last Updated October 8, 2014