If you missed Dr. Lillis’ informative presentation to the club on Sunday, you’ll want to watch these video excerpts.
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.
Dr. Christopher Lillis, a physician from Fredericksburg specializing in internal medicine, will review the mechanics and effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at a special presentation on Sunday, March 25, clarifying the misinformation and confusion put forth by political adversaries.
The presentation, sponsored by the Lake of the Woods Democratic Club, will take place at 2 p.m. in the lower level of the Clubhouse. Guests are welcome regardless of political affiliation. A meet-and-greet session will begin at 1:30 p.m.
President Obama invited Dr. Lillis to Washington in March 2010 to promote his health care package and to urge Congress to embrace his proposed reforms.
In January 2011, Dr. Lillis delivered a petition on behalf of Doctors of America to Rep. Eric Cantor opposing the congressman’s misconceived efforts to repeal the health care law. At that time he said in an interview, “The new health care reform law will save lives. We are already seeing more patients having access to quality and affordable health care. Doctors and medical students want to work with the new Congress to move our health care system forward by implementing the new reform law, not backwards by repealing it.”
Dr. Lillis earned a bachelor of science degree from Siena College near Albany, N.Y., and went on to complete his medical degree at the Georgetown University School of Medicine, and completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Duke University Hospital in Durham, N.C. His research at Duke involved cardiovascular disease prevention.
He is a full time private practice internal medicine physician, a monthly columnist for The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, and a member of the board of directors of Doctors for America as well as its director of the blog “Progress Notes.” Doctors of America is a non-profit organization of more than 200 physicians and medical students who have dedicated time to explain the new health-care law to Americans.
Dr. Lillis and his wife and young son in Fredericksburg.
Follow Dr. Lillis on Twitter @drlillisf_burg
For more information about the health care reform law and what it will do, visit the following Web sites:
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Orange Democrats have full agenda
The Orange County Democratic Committee will meet at 10 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 25, at 135 Warren Street, Orange.
The agenda will include the following:
- Jim Phillips of Richmond, the third candidate seeking the 7th District Democratic Congressional nomination to oppose Eric Cantor will be at our meeting this Saturday to meet with the Committee and introduce himself to us. He will be introduced by Joseph T. Samuels Jr., the son of Joseph T. Samuels Sr., commissioner of the revenue for Orange County for many years.
- 7th District Democratic Congressional Convention — This convention is scheduled for Saturday, April 28. Orange County has been allocated nine delegates and two alternates. There is a pre-filing deadline and other rules. We can discuss these concerns at the meeting.
- Orange County Committee meeting dates — Here are the future meeting dates: March 31, April 23, May 19 and June 23. The March meeting will have to be in Orange County Library, 143 North Madison Road, due to the Community Room not being available in March.
- Spring Event — We need to plan a spring fundraising event to raise money to meet our coming needs. Wayne Garnett suggested Wednesday, April 18. This needs to be discussed at our meeting.
- Piedmont District Meeting — Suzanne Long, chairman of the Madison Committee, has arranged for the first meeting in George James Community Center, located Route 230 in Radiant on Saturday, March 10 at 9 a.m. A buffet breakfast will be available for $10. We hope to get the chairmen from Orange, Madison, Culpeper, Louisa and Rappahannock Counties together with committee members from each jurisdiction.
- Lake of the Woods Democratic Club — Next meeting on Sunday, March 25 at 2 p.m. in the lower level of the Lake of the Woods Clubhouse. The guest speaker will be Dr. Christopher Lillis who will speak about the Affordable Health Care Act.
- Concerns from the floor.