PA insurance officials will review 'balance billing'

Janice Nathan considers herself a loyal UPMC customer. After undergoing a kidney transplant at a UPMC hospital in 2001, Nathan continued seeing UPMC doctors. When UPMC and insurer Highmark started fighting over contracts, Nathan bought insurance through UPMC Health Plan to keep her doctors. So she was surprised when she learned her UPMC primary care physician had referred her to a cardiologist at UPMC Shadyside who, it turned out, wasn't part of her UPMC health plan's network. The cardiologist billed her $325 for the visit. "I feel betrayed, to be honest," said Nathan, who lives in Squirrel Hill. "I know it's a strong word, but their whole advertisement was, 'If you stay with us, you won't lose your doctors and you won't pay out-of-network.'"