HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s attorney general wants the state Supreme Court to keep in place a business relationship between two enormous health care providers, warning of dire consequences for patients if it ends.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro on Monday asked the justices to delay the June 30 end of a consent decree involving UPMC and Highmark Health.

A Commonwealth Court judge ruled last week he didn’t have authority to extend the June 30 dissolution of the companies’ relationship.

The companies were about to go their separate ways in 2014 when then-Gov. Tom Corbett got them to sign a five-year consent decree that kept in-network rates for Highmark customers in the Pittsburgh area and Erie.

When that agreement ends, customers with Highmark insurance might not be unable to get in-network treatment through UPMC’s network.