In early May, the Department of Justice announced the creation of a new task force focused on healthcare monopolies and collusion.

• DOJ Antitrust Prosecutor Katrina Rouse will lead the group, which will convene civil and criminal prosecutors, economists, health care industry experts, technologists, data scientists, investigators, and policy advisors from across the agency.

• The task force will consider issues including payer-provider consolidation, serial acquisitions, labor and quality of care, medical billing, health care IT services, access to and misuse of health care data.

• According to Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, the task force has three “animating principles”: the need for antitrust enforcement in a post-industrial economy dominated by monopolies and intermediaries; greater utilization of the department’s “deep bench” of resources, tools, and experts; and the creation of a “strong policy voice” that fuels collaborations across agencies and departments.