With his infant son Billy in his arms, Jimmy Kimmel made an emotional plea to viewers to urge Congress to approve funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
“Daddy cries on TV, but Billy doesn’t. It’s unbelievable,” the late-night host joked. He said Billy had recently undergone successful heart surgery, which is why he was away from the show last week. (RELATED: Jimmy Kimmel Actually Wants To Fight Roy Moore. Who You Got?)
Kimmel thanked the doctors and staff for taking good care of his son last week before he called out Congress for putting funding for CHIP on the “back burner” so they could pass President Donald Trump’s tax plan.
“It covers around 9 million American kids whose parents make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but don’t have access to coverage, affordable coverage through their jobs, which mean it almost certainly covers children you know,” Kimmel shared. “About one in eight children are covered only by CHIP.”
“The last time funding for CHIP was authorized was in 2015, it passed with a vote of 392-37 in the House and 92-8 in the Senate. Overwhelmingly Democrats and Republicans supported it until now,” he added. “Now CHIP has become a bargaining chip. It’s on the back burner while they work out their new tax plans.”
“Parents of children with cancer, diabetes, and heart problems, are about to get letters saying their coverage could be cut off next month. Merry Christmas, right,” he continued.
“It’s always had bipartisan support. But this year they let the money for it expire while they work on getting tax cuts for their millionaire and billionaire donors.”
“I don’t know about you, I’ve had enough of this,” Kimmel explained. “I don’t know what could be more disgusting than putting a tax cut that mostly goes to rich people ahead of the lives of children. Why hasn’t CHIP been funded already? If these were potato chips they were taking away from us, we would be marching on Washington with pitchforks and spears right now.”