Comedian Jimmy Kimmel is blasting the latest Republican healthcare proposal as heartless and not in the best interest of most Americans.
“They’re taking care of the people who give them money like insurance companies, and we’re all just looking at our Instagram accounts liking things, while they’re voting on whether people can afford to keep their children alive or not,” Kimmel ranted during Tuesday night’s telecast of Jimmy Kimmel Live!
“Most of the congress-people who vote on this bill probably won’t even read it,” he added. “And they want us to do the same thing. They want us to treat it like an iTunes service agreement.”
Kimmel sounded off after Louisiana Republican Senator and bill sponsor Bill Cassidy invoked his name in touting the bill.
Cassidy appeared on an episode of Kimmel Live! back in May, where the two talked about healthcare and in the wake of the bill now being floated through Congress boasted it passes the “Jimmy Kimmel test.”
Kimmel has been an outspoken advocate of healthcare ever since his young son was diagnosed with a heart condition, and he began to openly wonder how someone without the benefits of Obamacare might be able to handle all the massive costs associated with dealing with life-threating health conditions.
As details about the latest GOP bill being promoted have leaked to the public, Kimmel again felt compelled to weigh in.
“Health care is complicated; it’s boring; I don’t want to talk about it,” Kimmel said. “The details are confusing, and that’s what these guys are relying on. Most of the congress-people who vote on this bill probably won’t even read it. And they want us to do the same thing. They want us to treat it like an iTunes service agreement. And this guy, Bill Cassidy, just lied right to my face.”
The crux of the plan being proposed by Cassidy, which is co-sponsored by South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham, calls on states to be largely in control of capping their own healthcare systems.
Kimmel counters that no cost should be too great for families with children facing life-threatening illnesses.
“If your baby is going to die and it doesn’t have to, it shouldn’t matter how much money you make,” he said. “I think that’s something that whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat or something else, we all agree on that, right?”
Critics have also charged Republicans are attempting to push the new bill through before the Congressional Budget Office can weigh in with an analysis of how much it would cost and how many people could lose insurance.
Prior Republican plans have been largely panned because they would insure millions of fewer people compared to Obamacare.
[Featured Image by Leon Bennett/Getty Images]
