Attorney William O'Neil has spent the last month crisscrossing the state, interviewing labor unions and health benefits consortiums to determine if there's the stomach -- and the bankroll -- to take on the merger of Pittsburgh's Highmark Inc. and Philadelphia's Independence Blue Cross.

The proposed merger, formally floated in the spring, has elicited concerns from lawmakers, physicians groups and insurance industry watchdogs, who fear that a consolidation of the two health insurers would reduce competition in the state. And that, they worry, will give employers and health-care providers even less leverage when negotiating premiums, payments and coverage packages with the Blues.

Mr. O'Neil, of the Washington, D.C.-based firm Burke O'Neil, shares those worries. Speaking to labor representatives and the Mon Valley Unemployed Committee yesterday at a meeting Downtown, he said his discussions with Philadelphia unions have led him to conclude that few consumers are pleased with a system in which, every year, "they tell us the overhead cost is going up, your coverage is going down, and there's not much more to talk about."

Until federal or state lawmakers do something to remedy that, "from a lawyer's perspective, the only thing you can do is bring suit. Our clients are contemplating that," Mr. O'Neil said.

A merger of Highmark and IBC, both nonprofits, would create one of the largest health insurers in the country, with market share between 60 and 70 percent in their coverage areas, not counting Medicare users.

Litigation to prevent a Blues merger would not be unprecedented, or even unusual -- in fact, at least two lawsuits regarding the merger that created Highmark a decade ago still are being reviewed by Commonwealth Court. Neither suit is thought to have much of a chance, though.

One of the ongoing suits was brought by Capital BlueCross, based in Harrisburg. Yesterday, it wouldn't comment on the prospects of another suit, saying only that "given the inevitable adverse effects of the proposed combination," the merger of Highmark and IBC should be carefully scrutinized, according to Capital spokesman Joe Butera

The public comment period, during which allies and opponents are able to submit testimony related to the merger, continues indefinitely.