Jimmy Kimmel jokes he'd 'like to apologize for saying that children in America should have healthcare'

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May 9, 2017 4:55 PM

"No family should be denied medical care, emergency or otherwise, because they can't afford it," Kimmel said on Monday. "Can that be the Jimmy Kimmel test?"

Jimmy Kimmel and Sen. Bill Cassidy on "Live!"

Jimmy Kimmel on Monday laid out a simple test for the GOP's attempt to reform the US healthcare system.

After Kimmel's emotional monologue last week in which he spoke about his newborn son's open-heart surgery, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana suggested any GOP healthcare bill pass the "Jimmy Kimmel test" to make sure families can afford care for their children.

In an interview on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Monday night, the late-night host told Cassidy what the test should look like.

"Since I am Jimmy Kimmel, I would like to make a suggestion as to what the Jimmy Kimmel test should be. I'll keep it simple," Kimmel told Cassidy. "No family should be denied medical care, emergency or otherwise, because they can't afford it. Can that be the Jimmy Kimmel test? As simple as that?"

Cassidy agreed with the concept of the test.

"Hey, man, you're on the right track, and if that's as close as we can get, that works great in government," Cassidy said. "Now we've got to be able to pay for it, and that's the challenge."

Cassidy and fellow Republican Sen. Susan Collins have introduced a separate healthcare bill that proposes keeping many of the Affordable Care Act's provisions in place, including protections for people with preexisting conditions and the elimination of lifetime caps on insurance plans.

Kimmel told Cassidy that the best way to pay for the plan would be: "Don't give a huge tax cut to millionaires like me."

"Tell the American people to call their senator to endorse that concept," Cassidy said.

Cassidy also took issue with parts of the House GOP healthcare bill, the American Health Care Act. The senator pointed to a Congressional Budget Office analysis that showed that premiums would increase in the first two years after the bill's passage.

Kimmel pushed back on some of the criticism of his monologue.

"I'd like to apologize for saying that children in America should have healthcare," Kimmel said. "It was insensitive, it was offensive, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

Watch the full monologue and interview with Cassidy:

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