Follow KDKA-TV: Facebook | Twitter

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s highest court will resolve whether a business relationship between two major health care providers will expire as scheduled at the end of June.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted the petition by Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who wants to delay the June 30 end of a consent decree involving UPMC and Highmark Health.

A Commonwealth Court judge has ruled he lacked authority to extend the scheduled dissolution of the companies’ relationship.

The Supreme Court will hear oral argument in the matter when it meets in Harrisburg in mid-May.

RELATED STORIES:

The companies in 2014 signed a five-year consent decree that kept in-network rates for Highmark customers in the Pittsburgh area and Erie.

The end of that agreement may make patients with Highmark insurance unable to get in-network treatment through UPMC’s network.

(Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)