If you missed Dr. Lillis’ informative presentation to the club on Sunday, you’ll want to watch these video excerpts.
Month: March 2012
Dr. Christopher Lillis, a Fredericksburg physician representing Doctors for America, cut through the political hysteria and revealed the compelling arguments in favor of the Affordable Care Act at a special Sunday afternoon program March 25 at the LOW Clubhouse.
Dr. Lillis’ presentation included authoritative answers to a variety of thoughtful questions from an audience of about 80 members and guests.
The Affordable Care Act, labeled by detractors as “Obamacare,” is already saving American lives, Dr. Lillis said, even though many of its more important provisions do not go into effect until 2014. He said as many as two million Americans who would otherwise be without health insurance are already protected by the law.
The speaker described how skyrocketing costs over the past 30 years have made it impossible for many middle-class Americans to afford even basic health care. If the trend had been allowed to continue, the physical health and economic health of most Americans would be at stake.
Dr. Lillis said the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act is vital to the success of the legislation. Of eight states who have tried to reform health care insurance, the only one to succeed has been Massachusetts because that state was the only one to include a mandate that citizens buy insurance.
Without the individual mandate, the insured pool becomes sicker and insurance companies, in order to insure their economic success, will withdraw their support of the legislation and begin to lobby against even its most successful provisions.
The efforts of misguided politicians and self-serving businesses to undermine the law are not in the best interest of American families, Dr. Lillis said. The result of those efforts, he said, will be the suffering and death of loved ones, friends and neighbors.
Dr. Lillis left immediately after his presentation to go to Washington, D.C., where he planned to be on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, which began hearing arguments in a court case brought by attorneys general in 26 states, including Virginia. He will be a part of a group from Doctors of America speaking to the media in defense of the health care law.