Advertisement UPDATE: Highmark says it sent letters telling people pharmacies were out of network too soon Highmark sent letters before some pharmacies had a chance to renew their contracts Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A Highmark official says the mailing list for customers who go to pharmacies that weren't renewed was pulled on October 1. Some pharmacy owners say they didn't receive their renewal forms from Highmark until after that.This means some Highmark customers may have received letters telling them their pharmacy was out-of-network. A Highmark official says that may have been the case when the mailing list was formulated, but acknowledged that some pharmacies submitted paperwork after October 1.VIDEO: Watch David Kaplan's latest reportHighmark says it will be issuing a retraction letter to all the customers who got those letters.That official wouldn't comment on how many customers received letters.============On Oct. 30, South Hills pharmacy owner Dr. Kevin Evancic did something he does every year.He got a letter from Highmark confirming a spot in their prescription network for 2016 and set the letter back the next day to confirm his pharmacy will, in fact, be in their network for 2016.VIDEO: Watch David Kaplan's reportHe estimates a month later customers got a letter saying his pharmacy is not in network for this year.Evancic didn't know about those letters until a few days ago."No instructions in the letter to contact your present pharmacy for advice, it was just here are the guidelines for how to find a new pharmacy," Evancic said.Evancic called a representative for Highmark and Express Scripts and confirmed that the letter customers got was wrong, that he was in the network.What Evancic is worried about now is that he doesn't know how many letters were sent out.He also doesn't know which of his customers got letters."Is it 5 percent of my customer population, or is it 25 percent? I don't know," Evancic said."That's my biggest concern, is the people that aren't kind enough to call me or follow up to say,"Hey, can you tell me a little bit about this' and they just leave instead because of the letter, which I wouldn't be able to blame them for."Evancic hasn't been satisfied with the answers he's received from Highmark about how and why this happened.He said he wants some sort of retraction letter sent, or a list of all his customers who received letters so he can try to let them know that they're still able to come to his two pharmacies as normal."Situations like this, they bother me, you know? I look at something like this and say,"Geez, I had a contract, I complied with all the standards, I complied with all the timetables provided, and still people got the letter.' That's what's scariest to me," Evancic said.Pittsburgh's Action News 4 reached out to Highmark representatives Saturday afternoon and evening, but haven't yet gotten a response.