Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Penn Highlands Healthcare's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  Penn Highlands Healthcare

  809 Turnpike Ave Clearfield, PA 16830-1232

• 

  Penn Highlands Healthcare

  763 Johnsonburg Rd. St. Marys, PA 15857

• 

  Penn Highlands Healthcare

  PO Box 447 100 Hospital Ave Dubois, PA 15801

• 

  Penn Highlands Healthcare

  PO Box 992 Clearfield, PA 16830-0992

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/07/2025

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Penn Highlands waited over a year to send me a bill for a service (on 12/22/23). It was also coded wrong, so my insurance company barely covered any of it.. They charged $1,020 for a COVID/flu test that took 30 seconds, which I could have done at home for free! They coded it as "needed for travel or work", which was not true. It was a normal ** (sick) visit. My insurance company said they would have covered more of it if it had been coded ************ soon as I got the bill, I knew it was unaffordable for me, so I applied for financial aid. I was approved for 70% off, but they would NOT include that bill because they will only go back (retro) for 1 year. However, they were the ones who didn't send me a bill for a year! I applied as soon as I got the bill! This bill was the whole reason I even applied for the help!! They tried to blame the insurance company for holding things up, but they (************) said it was resolved on their end in a few weeks.I have made numerous calls to the billing **** to remedy the situation. I just keep getting the run around. What I would like them to do is include this bill with the 70% discount I was approved for. It is not my fault they took over a year to bill me! $1,020 is a ridiculous amount to charge for a 30 second COVID/flu (swab) test anyway!?

  Business Response

  Date: 07/10/2025

  Thank you for contacting us regarding billing concerns related to an invoice from a previous visit. The concerns have been shared with the appropriate individuals and a representative from Penn Highlands Healthcare is contacting the patient to further review the billing statement. We appreciate your understanding.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/11/2025

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  Regards,
  
  ******** ********

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/21/2025

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  05/16/2025 It was brought to my attention that my ******, Uncle *** 87 and his wife **** ****** 83 were being completely mistreated at his ER visit on May 15, 2025, ETA 3:30-4:00 AM because he was having personal issues. They told *** he was to walk to the bathroom around the corner if you needed to go to the bathroom. He said he wears briefs because he is incontinent, and he has accidents. (His Nurse said she didn&#**;t wipe *****.) They got him a bedside toilet to use after used; it was left setting there so long that Aunt **** had to ask for a Nurse to get it cleaned up. Later once they got him in the room **** asked for a ****** because he can walk with one but not on his own they made him get up and two nurses held onto him he was telling them he was afraid of falling the Nurses said just let us do our job and come on you are not going to fall he was shaking so bad by the time he got him to the ****** to be taking for testing when he got back to the room he needed to use the restroom he rang for the nurse no one came he rang a few more times still no Nurses, LPN, or Drs come to Bobs bedside to answer the ringing of the emergency bedside bell. ****, his nephew and Aunt **** got him up and took him themselves. After **** & **** got *** back to his bedside, they went home. **** was trying multiple times to reach *** by the bedside phone with no answer She called into the hospital and asked for a Nurse to get *** to answer his bedside phone Nurses told **** they were too busy to walk back a room and have *** answer the phone. Some odd time later, finally able to get ahold of *** that mid-morning on the phone within a few minutes the nurse came in and told *** you get off the phone I have things to do and you cant be on the phone. And she took the phone from *** out of his hands and hung up on ****.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/28/2025

  ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

  My Aunt **** informed me the other day that they are taking Uncle *** to ********** again. But in the midst of all that they did a cat scan and found that uncle bobs hip is broke. **** said she doesn't remember *** falling and when the nurses put in on the ****** bed that night at the ******************************************, she thinks that maybe that's when it happened. Now shes not sure at all but I wanted to bring it to your attention just in case it is something serious caused by any of that but thats all I got for now

  Business Response

  Date: 06/02/2025

  Thank you for contacting us regarding concerns from a recent visit to the ********************* We value your feedback and apologize for any inconvenience experienced during the visit. The concerns have been reviewed with the appropriate individuals and a representative from Penn Highlands Healthcare has been in contact with the patient.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/18/2025

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  This hospital system seems to be price gouging its patients and charging exorbitant pricing that does not align with the overall market in the area. I understand that not all hospitals and hospital systems charge the same costs for things, but Penn Highlands seems to be charging excessively over what other providers do in the area and it almost feels predatory at this point. Penn Highlands is my local in network hospital. I ended up going to the ** earlier this year for bronchitis. I spent less than an hour there, got a chest X-ray, and ended up with a staggering $1,600 bill. When I spoke with my insurance they agreed that that amount seemed excessive but that they dont control what providers charge. I called Penn Highlands and all they could offer me was a payment plan and no real answers. This month I went to schedule a diagnostic mammogram at a Penn Highlands location. After my poor experience and their excessive billing earlier in the year, I called my insurance first to see what kind of costs Id be looking at with my in network 30% coinsurance. They advised me that Penn Highlands charges around 10k for a diagnostic mammogram and that Id be on the hook for almost 3k. My insurance suggested that we look to see what other hospitals in the area charged. They ran the estimate for Altoona Hospital and found that my out of pocket costs would be under $300 and for ************* it would be around $150. Again, Penn Highlands would charge me almost 3k. This means that both hospitals offer the same diagnostic testing for $1,000 or less while Penn Highlands is charging $10,000 for that same test. This seems outrageous. Why is Penn Highlands charging such inflated costs for medical care when their peers in the area all charge a fraction of what they do? Something does not add up here. Either there is something nefarious going on or they are mismanaging funds at an epic proportion. I wont be using their services again and I hope that they are investigated.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/28/2025

  Thank you for contacting us regarding billing concerns from a recent visit. The concerns have been shared with the appropriate individuals and a representative from Penn Highlands Healthcare is contacting the patient to further review the billing statement. We appreciate your understanding.
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/13/2025

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  There billing department does not send bills out on time have received bills for the first time 14 months after date of service. I tried to pay bills at time of service but they tell me I dont owe anything. I say I do believe I do and they tell me no insurance has paid it. I have brought all of this to there attention with no help. When I do get a bill its at least 6 months from time of service and says repeated attempts have been made which it would be the first time. I talked to them about it and they said they cant help about mail delivery! Also I get no itemized billing statements when I receive them as they our old so I dont even know what they were. I have brought this to physicians attention and they tell me I wouldnt pay it either. Now they have sent me to collect agency and I told them Im not responsible for bills after one year as I have not received those bills. When they send a bill on time I pay it. I always try and pay when service but they wont accept as I know what I owe at that time. I feel I am not responsible for the bills due to there lack of efficiency!

  Business Response

  Date: 02/19/2025

  Thank you for contacting us regarding the billing issue. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience and understanding. Penn Highlands Healthcare takes these matters seriously and we are working with the appropriate departments to resolve these concerns and help prevent similar issues in the future.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/21/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Contacted Penn Highlands Medical Supply about my fathers broken lift chair that he needs to survive, they sent someone and I heard nothing for 3 months, when I finally got ahold of them they told me it wasn't under warrenty anymore and they couldn't/wouldn't fix it - I had a prescription for a new on sent in in April and again never heard back till September when they said it wasn't good enough - since then *** has sent in at least 2 more but they "never receive" them or they aren't good enough. The previous company worked with us and through ******** and ******** got a chair and fully paid for this one doesn't want to be bothered with patients as all I hear from patients and nurses is negative and having no luck with getting needed equiptment We went through this with my fathers nebulizer to the point of having to buy one ourselves because they were no help and couldn't be bothered.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/13/2024

  Hello,  I have passed this along to the Director of Home Medical Equipment ***** ******.   I will update response as soon as I hear back.

  I could not locate an employee of Penn Highlands named *** *******. 

   

  Thank you,

  **** *******

  Business Response

  Date: 11/27/2024

  Thank you for contacting us regarding the issue with the lift chair. We appreciate your patience and understanding. Penn Highlands Home Medical Equipment is dedicated to providing high-quality service. We are working with both the customer and manufacturer to resolve this matter.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/23/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I gave birth at Penn Highlands in Dubois, PA in April of 2023. Since that time I have had multiple billing issues with the hospital. They originally did not charge my insurance and that issue took weeks to get ahold of anyone from their billing office to get it straightened out.
  The most recent issue is they sent my remaining bill to collections. I have been paying my bill every month with the exception of one missed payment due to card error and their office not being able to update my card information. When I tried to manually make the payment, the payment was switched from my outstanding bill to a newer bill to make it appear as though as second payment was missed. I was never given notice that my bill would be sent to collections, rather, less than one month after missed payment, the debt collector sent me a letter directly.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/23/2024

  Hello, 

   I have reviewed *** ********** concern.  There was a payment made but a payment plan was not set up. 

  I have closed the account that moved to collections. There is no impact to credit rating.

    *** ******** will need to call ************ to have the accounts placed into a payment plan.

  Let me know if there are any other issues that need to be addressed.

  Thank you,

  Matt S******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/20/2024

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have received between 30 to 40 calls from them trying to get me to switch insurance. I have told them 3 times to quit calling me and to remove my number and I continue to get several calls a day from there various locations. I want them to stop calling me.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/10/2024

  Hello,   

  We have reviewed this consumer complaint and could not locate a ******** ***** in our Medical record system. 
  

  Penn Highlands Healthcare does not make outgoing sales calls. 

  Thank you,

  Matt S******

  System Director, Revenue Cycle

  Penn Highlands Healthcare

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/20/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I received a bill from Penn Highlands for a co-pay of $30.00 in November 2023. On 11/15/2023 my bank mailed the payment to the address and account member from the bill I received. In January 2024 I received another bill for the same amount. I called Penn Highlands over 15 times since then trying to get this settled. They still refuse to acknowledge the payment on my account and have submitted my account to a collection agency basically destroying my good credit rating. They cashed said check on 11/24/2024 with the account number to be applied to just above my name on the check.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/12/2024

  We are in receipt of your issue with a payment made for services, but appears to not have been applied correctly, resulting in a collection effort being made. As this was just received in my office on 6/11/24, please note that we will be looking into this issue and responding as timely as possible to find out what may have occurred and what resolution my be necessary.

  Thank you for trusting Penn Highlands with your healthcare and we will see what remedy needs to be made. 

  Sincerely,

  Donald S***

  System Director, Professional Billing

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/13/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  
  ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

  This is my response to Penn Highlands Lung Center. I dispute your response as it does not correct the situation. Ive made over 30 phone calls to Penn Highlands since Dec. 2023 trying to resolve this issue. I've personally mailed the documents to you to resolve this dispute twice, my bank also mailed and faxed the documentation twice as well. It's 6 months later and it is still in dispute with a credit collection agency. The check you cashed clearly shows my name and the account number off of the bill you mailed me the $30.00 was supposed to be applied to. It has yet been applied to my account. Please properly credit my account and remove me from collection status. 

  Thank you
  ***** **** ****
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/04/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Date of Service: 03.21.2024
  The Amount Charged: $1133.25
  Business Provided: Emergency Service
  Disputing: Charges billed
  Account Number: **********
  
  I provided the front desk my access card to enter in the system when I went to the emergency room. The lady did not enter in my access MA number instead she select self pay and now I am being charged 1133.25 first payment is due on 04/21/2024. I have filed a claim that will take 30-45 days !!!! which forces me to have to make a payment. I am currently unemployment due to a recent lay off. Hence why I medical insurance is through the state. I find this to be unprofessional and not caring for patients lives. I would like to have this reviewed and resolved immediately i do not have the funds to cover this. The medical center where I picked up my medication clearly knew how to enter in my information. So I uncertain as to why check in at the hospital decided to be unprofessional and put in self pay.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/30/2024

  Hello,      I have reviewed Ms. ********'s account and MA processed and paid the ED charge.  Payment was posted on 4/17/2024.  Account balance is at zero. 

  Our initial submission of the ED claim was rejected for no coverage which caused the balance drop to patient.   Account was rebilled and claim processed successfully. 

  My apologies for the confusion.

  Sincerely,

  Matt S******

  System Director Revenue Cycle. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/07/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I received a bill in August account number ******** for service on 7/15/22 for $35. It never went through my old insurance bcbs of illinois.in 2023 my insurance is bcbs of south carolina. I called the number on the bill *** ******** no answer left a message with my name and number like they asked. No-one called In sept I Received a second notice in the mail for $35 past due. Tried again to call *********** for a billing question no answer left name and number again. Sent the bill back and stated they need to resubmit to bcbs of Illinois since that was my insurance last year. Received another bill 9/29/23 for $211. It had a new charge on it from 11/14/2022 and 5/5/23. On Oct4 I went to the billing office in Dubois at 204 Hospital Ave and met with an associate and explained that the charges for 2022 need to be sent to bcbs of Illinois since that was my insurance last year and the new charge from 5/5/23 needs submitted to bcbs of south carolina like the rest of my charges for this year. I figured this would finally be resolved, but I was wrong. I received another bill today 11/7/23 for $223.22 which has an additional charge of $12.22 which I am going to pay since that charge was submitted to my insurance and that is my responsibility but the other $211 still has not been submitted to my insurance company. All I want is account #******** and ******** submitted to my insurance I had in 2022 of bcbs Illinois and for ******** submitted to bcbs of south carolina like the ******** was submitted and I am paying the $12.22 for that account.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/21/2023

  Members of the Penn Highlands Healthcare Physician Billing Revenue Cycle team have reviewed the complaint, more so the tickets addressed. We have found that there were instances where the wrong insurance ID No. was billed for DOS in 2022.Specifically ticket ******** and ******** were the ticket from 2022. Ticket ******** was resubmitted to insurance for payment/denial. It was found that ticket ******** was billed to patient 1 year after DOS and that is not standard practice for Penn Highlands Healthcare. This ticket has been adjusted in our system, there is no remaining patient responsibility. 

  For the two ticket for year 2023, ******** and ******** they were reviewed as well. Ticket ******** is in a paid status and no further action was taken. Ticket ******** was found to be billed to correct insurance plan for year, however the denial from insurance did not indicate that patient was responsible for payment. We have thus moved balance back to insurance and reached out via payer website to investigate why no payment was received. 

  Please understand that we are sorry that this occurred to you, but you should not receive any further bills in the mail. 

  Thank you. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/21/2023

  ** ******* ****** ** ******** **** ***** ********* **** ********** ** *** ********** *********  ** *** ***** *** *** ****** ** ****** ******* ****
  
  
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ******* ********

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/15/2024

  I previously submitted a complaint for a billing issue,and accepted Penn highlands response which stated at the end I would not receive any further bills in the mail. I received a bill for ticket ******** statement date 12/26/23. It also stated in your response you would resubmit this ticket to bcbsil id#************ GROUP NUMBER ****** for payment. I never received an EOB from them about this service. I called bcbsil and they stated they never received a request for payment but it is possible there was some other reason this happened. If you resubmit it now it will most likely be denied because of the time but when I get my EOB I can call them and get an override on the time because you tried to submit it in december. I have added my old membership # and the phone number for bcbsil is **************. I have always faithfully paid my bills from Penn highlands healthcare but I do expect you to submit a claim to my provider at the time of service. Since this issue has arised I have tried to call the phone number ************ on your bills statement but never get someone to answer the phone. I get a recording that asks me to leave my name and number and PHH will get back to me. In three months I left numerous messages and no-one from billing has ever contacted me. I even stopped at the Dubois billing office in early October to rectify these ticket numbers and BCBSIL never received a request for payment! Thank you for your time and consideration.