“Healthcare is complicated,” Jimmy Kimmel admitted on last night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live. “It’s boring. I don’t wanna talk about it!” But he keeps doing just that – first last May, with an emotional plea for fair health care coverage following his newborn son’s brush with death, and again last night, with a scathing monologue against the co-sponsor of the latest iteration of TrumpCare, who personally promised Kimmel that he’d work to put forward legislation that passed what he called the ‘Jimmy Kimmel Test.”
“This guy, Bill Cassidy, just lied right to my face,” Kimmel fumed, noting that the Graham-Cassidy Bill that’s currently working its way through the Senate would raise premiums, remove approximately 30 million Americans from the health-care rolls, and allow states to collaborate with insurance companies to determine lifetime caps and exorbitant costs for coverage of pre-existing conditions. “This new bill actually does pass ‘the Jimmy Kimmel Test’ – but a different ‘Jimmy Kimmel Test,’” Kimmel noted. “In this one, your child with a pre-existing condition will get the care he needs if, and only if, his father is Jimmy Kimmel. Otherwise you might be screwed.”
Watch:
“This is not my area of expertise,” Kimmel says. “My area of expertise is eating pizza and that’s about it.” (In a CNN appearance this morning, Cassidy attempted to seize on that lack of expertise – “I’m sorry he does not understand” – while double-talking the state determinations that Kimmel objected to.) But Kimmel is clearly taking this bill personally, closing with this suggestion: “There’s a new ‘Jimmy Kimmel Test’ for you. It’s called a lie detector test. You’re welcome to stop by the studio and take it any time.”
Oh, and as Kimmel notes, the number to call your Senators and voice your objection (or support, y’know, monsters may read our site too) is 202-224-3121. Give ‘em a jingle. Especially if you live in a red state.