The GOP health care plan is a joke, funnyman Jimmy Kimmel claims.
For the third night in a row, late-night host Kimmel found himself in the middle of the polarizing health care reform debate.
The comedian used his opening monologue to push back on claims from Republicans and President Trump that their health care bill would guarantee protections for patients with pre-existing conditions from ballooning costs.
“This plan is not a good thing,” Kimmel said in urging his viewers to call their lawmakers to protest the bill.
Kimmel, whose son was born with a heart condition, found himself at the center of the debate when one of the bill’s authors, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), pledged his guiding principle for designing legislation would be ensuring that children like Kimmel’s son would have all the necessary care.
Cassidy dubbed it the “Jimmy Kimmel test.”
Earlier this week, Kimmel said Cassidy’s bill failed the test and he “lied right to my face.”
Cassidy said Kimmel just doesn’t understand the legislation.
“He told me one thing, he did another,” Kimmel said.
The funnyman also took issue with Trump’s insistence that the bill is “great” and “includes coverage of pre-existing conditions.”
Kimmel implied Trump can’t be trusted to understand legislation, since his job qualification for president was firing Meat Loaf on “Celebrity Apprentice.”
“He doesn’t know the difference between Medicare and Medicaid,” Kimmel quipped. “He barely knows the difference between Melania and Ivanka.”
He urged viewers to join with groups like the American Medical Association and the American Cancer Society to oppose the legislation that’s expected to be voted on next week.
“We haven’t seen this many people come forward to speak out against a bill since Cosby,” Kimmel said, referring to disgraced comedian Bill Cosby.