Insurers pressed on competition at merger hearing

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, July, 2008 | by Jane M. Von Bergen Inquirer Staff Writer

HARRISBURG - When it comes to their proposed merger to create the state's largest insurer, executives at Independence Blue Cross and Highmark Inc. insist they won't play hardball when it comes to negotiating with doctors and hospitals over payments for their services, despite their market clout.

But the head of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, who testified yesterday at Insurance Department hearings on the merger, isn't buying it. "It's like, 'Yeah, I'll love you in the morning,' " society president Peter Lund quipped in an interview after his testimony. Lund, who practices medicine in Erie County, pointed to an example. At the Lehigh Valley Hospital near Allentown, where there are several insurance companies, including Highmark, competing to include doctors and hospitals...