Some insurers see red ink, some get the green.(UPMC Health Plan posts $16.2 million in first year of operation)

UPMC losses of $16 million beat projection

UPTOWN - UPMC Health Plan, the regions upstart insurer, posted a loss of $16.2 million for 1998, its first year of full operation.

Red ink is not unusual for a startup. Plan executives said they had projected a $20 million loss.

"Going into this as a health system and with all we heard about ourselves and how high-cost we supposedly were (as a provider), we feel we've shown up better than we projected we would," said Patti Darnley, UPMC Health Plans vice president of finance.

UPMC Health Plan and QualMed Plans for Health of Western Pennsylvania posted net losses in 1998, while three other of the region's major insurers reported healthy …