Sign of the Times?

The U.S. Justice Department may have signaled it's delivering what providers have long asked for: the stomach to scuttle health plan mergers. Or not. Arthur N. Lerner, healthcare and antitrust partner with Crowell & Moring LLP and co-chair of the firm's Health Care Group, believes the U. S. Justice Department's antitrust team under Obama is in fact scrutinizing health-insurance deals more closely. "I will say, from my own experience, the heat is on," Lerner said.