(Photo: Molly McNearny/Twitter)
On his late-night TV show, Jimmy Kimmel shared a personal story about his infant son and asked decision-makers to continue to vote against Trumpcare. He revealed that his son, Bobby, was born with congenital heart disease and required immediate surgery after being born. His son is now expected to grow up and lead a normal life, but Kimmel argues that under Trumpcare, babies with similar heart complications would never be able to afford insurance for lifesaving procedures.
Before Obamacare, “If you were born with congenital heart disease like my son was, there was a good chance you’d never be able to get health insurance because you had a pre-existing condition,” Kimmel said. He goes on to proclaim, “If your parents didn’t have medical insurance, you might not live long enough to even get denied because of a pre-existing condition. If your baby is going to die, and it doesn’t have to, it shouldn’t matter how much money you make.”
Vastly different from Kimmel’s take on healthcare, Alabama representative Mo Brooks said in a CNN interview that Trumpcare will free healthy people from paying for sick people’s medical bills stating, “People who lead good lives, they’re healthy, they’ve done the things to keep their bodies healthy . . . those are the people who have done things the right way that are seeing their costs skyrocketing.” With this mindset, apparently even newborns with life-threatening conditions have made poor life choices and are therefore unworthy of affordable healthcare.
In his monologue, Kimmel applauded Congress who rejected Trump’s proposed healthcare plan and increased NIH funding by $2 million. President Obama retweeted Kimmel’s heartfelt message and added, “Well said, Jimmy. That’s exactly why we fought so hard for the ACA, and why we need to protect it for kids like Billy. And congratulations!”
Alanna Shingler Staff Reporter