Top administrators at both Butler Health System and ACMH Hospital downplayed how the impending UPMC-Highmark split might affect patients in places like Butler.

With a June 30 deadline looking more likely every day in the Pittsburgh health care market, Ken DeFurio, BHS CEO, said Butler's hospital group should be spared from whatever access and cost issues may soon occur in the region.

“From everything that I know, everything I've been told by parties on both sides, we are not aware of any situations where our doctors or our services cannot be accessed,” DeFurio said. “Our services are for everybody and will stay that way.”

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said attempts to postpone the health care split are likely at a loss after a Commonwealth Court decision last Friday. That leaves patients throughout the region fearing what might happen to their insurance and health care options after this month ends.

DeFurio, however, said independent, smaller hospitals, such as Butler Memorial Hospital, are in a solid position as they tend to accept both forms of coverage.

John Lewis, president and CEO of ACMH Hospital in East Franklin Township, Armstrong County, concurred.

“It's really just a function of who you're providing for,” Lewis said. “And we're not owned by either system.”

Both men noted that the June 30 deadline isn't anything new. Medical providers in Pennsylvania spent the last several years untangling medical services. All the headaches that come with the split have already been the reality for providers and patients.

“This has been coming for a while,” Lewis said. “A lot of the decisions about specific issues and agreement changes have been executed already over the years.”

DeFurio said BHS started preparing years ago, back when the fracturing began, and signed long-term contracts with involved insurance providers. “We made sure all our contracts went far beyond the expiration date,” DeFurio said.

At Butler's medical group, about 65 percent of revenue comes from government sources, such as Medicaid and Medicare, DeFurio estimated.

Only around 35 percent of revenue comes from private insurance, he said, with Highmark being the largest within that group and UPMC health plans close behind.

DeFurio said he has mixed feelings about Shapiro's efforts to delay the split. He said he understands Shapiro's concerns over UPMC's actions in regard to its charitable status — a status shared by BHS. He also said that he thinks the split might aid competition in the area, and that Shapiro ought to support that.

Both DeFurio and Lewis said they're not overly concerned about what's coming. They both said their biggest concern, rather, is the confusing nature of it all. “You really have to pay attention to understand all the rhetoric out there,” DeFurio said.

Lewis said he thinks subtle subcategory shifts within the involved groups' insurance plans might cause some confusion, but he thinks both sides have a vested interest in keeping the future road smooth. “At the end of the day, it's the one thing people are really concerned about,” Lewis said. “Their health care provider.”