What shall we call this annual hit to the pocketbooks of Northern Virginia voters? How about the "Kilgore Tax"?
One of your jobs is to enforce state antitrust laws, which are designed to prevent mergers that substantially lessen competition and prevent companies from using market power to overcharge consumers...So here's the question: Does the takeover of a monopoly community hospital [Loudon Hospital] by a dominant regional chain [Inova] substantially lessen competition, or the likelihood of future competition, in Northern Virginia?
If you were an attorney general with half a brain, you'd immediately see the need for an extensive review before going to court to challenge the deal or, at a minimum, you would impose extensive conditions to ensure that Inova does not use its dominant position to quash competition.
But if you were former Virginia attorney general Jerry Kilgore, you gave the deal the green light without so much as an explanation. After all, with a campaign for governor to run and issues like abortion, the death penalty and gun control to demagogue, why bother with a minor issue like the spiraling cost of health care?
Things have only gone from bad to worse. Ever since Kilgore and the sleeping watchdogs at the Federal Trade Commission declined to intervene in the Loudoun Hospital takeover, Inova has stepped up the campaign against HCA.
So, while Jerry has no record in budgeting, his work as Attorney General nevertheless ended up making every Northern Virginian pay.
...More robust competition in Northern Virginia's hospital market could, in time, trim at much as 10 percent off prevailing rates. And with hospital charges reaching roughly 30 percent of health care costs, that means Northern Virginians and their employers are paying at least $300 a year more than necessary for a $10,000 family health insurance policy.What shall we call this annual hit to the pocketbooks of Northern Virginia voters? How about the "Kilgore Tax"?
Think of losing $300 per year! Is that a donation you would give to Kilgore's campaign?
Why wouldn't Kilgore enforce the state's anti-trust regulations when he served as Attorney General? Of course we all know Jerry's typical weak little response:
"Well, you, um, you'd, never would want to require that, er, individuals participate in certain programs."
We thought so.