Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel railed against Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La) Tuesday, calling the GOP lawmaker a liar for introducing a new health care bill he claims doesn’t pass the so-called “Jimmy Kimmel Test.”
In May, the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host announced that his infant son was born with a congenital heart defect and needed open-heart surgery. Kimmel’s emotional monologue made him a sort of champion for Obamacare and an opponent of any new legislative efforts to strip away coverage for pre-existing conditions.
Kimmel brought on Sen. Cassidy and the pair discussed the “Jimmy Kimmel test,” a provision that would ensure that any new health care law would include a language that would guarantee that a child’s health care coverage is paid for doing the first year of his life.
The Louisiana lawmaker is now the co-sponsor of the increasingly-popular Graham-Cassidy Obamacare replacement bill, legislation Kimmel now claims fails the “Jimmy Kimmel test.”
“This guy, Bill Cassidy, just lied right to my face. He wasn’t being honest,” Kimmel said on Tuesday night, admitting that he is “politicizing my sons health care problems because I have to.”
“It seemed like he was being honest,” Kimmel said of Cassidy. “He got a lot of credit and attention for coming off like a rare, reasonable voice in the Republican Party when it came to health care, for coming up with something he called — I didn’t name it this — he named it this, the “Jimmy Kimmel Test.”
Kimmel continued to slam Cassidy, claiming the lawmaker said he would only support a health care bill that included no annual and lifetime caps on coverage, among other Obamacare-style provisions.
“Not only did Bill Cassidy fail the Jimmy Kimmel test, he failed the Bill Cassidy test,” the ABC funnyman said before imploring GOP lawmakers, including Senators Collins, Murkowski, and McCain, to oppose Cassidy’s bill.
The Graham-Cassidy bill, however, does not affect “pre-existing conditions,” as it would bar health care providers from denying coverage because of a pre-existing condition. The bill says that in some cases, states can apply for waivers to amend health insurance regulations to allow insurers to offer smaller health insurance plans.
“They’re trying to sneak the scam of a bill they cooked up without an analysis by the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office,” Kimmel added while asking Cassidy to “Stop using my name.”
The Congressional Budget Office announced this week that it would release a preliminary assessment of the Graham-Cassidy Obamacare repeal bill early next week.
Sen. Cassidy fired back at Kimmel in a statement released Wednesday, saying that his bill would address people with pre-existing conditions and families looking for affordable health insurance:
Sean Moran contributed to this article.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson
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