Cassidy: 'I'm sorry' Kimmel doesn't understand Obamacare repeal bill

Responding to late night host Jimmy Kimmel’s scathing criticism a night earlier, Sen. Bill Cassidy said Wednesday morning that he is “sorry” that the ABC comedian does not understand legislation he is cosponsoring to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Cassidy (R-La.) famously appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” last May, proposing a “Jimmy Kimmel test” for any healthcare reform, a response to an emotional monologue that the late night host delivered about his son, who had surgery for a rare heart condition shortly after his birth. Wednesday night, Kimmel lashed out at Cassidy, labeling him a liar because repeal-and-replace legislation co-written by the senator failed the “Jimmy Kimmel test” he had laid out months earlier.


“This guy, Bill Cassidy, he just lied right to my face,” Kimmel said on air Tuesday night after listing four pledges Cassidy had made including protections for individuals with preexisting conditions, lower premiums for middle-class families and no lifetime caps coverage. “Guess what?” Kimmel said. “The new bill does none of those things.”

“I am sorry he does not understand,” Cassidy said in response Wednesday morning on CNN’s “New Day,” arguing that his legislation, co-authored with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) does in fact offer protections for individuals with preexisting conditions and that the bill would increase, not decrease the number of Americans covered by health insurance even though it does away with Obamacare’s individual mandate that individuals purchase health insurance.

Under the Graham-Cassidy bill, money currently spent by the federal government on Obamacare would instead be block granted to the states, which supporters of the plan argue would give governors flexibility on how to best meet the healthcare needs of their citizens. Senate Republicans have until the end of the month to pass the bill via a process called reconciliation, which would allow them to approve the measure with as few as 50 votes instead of the usual filibuster-proof 60.

Opposition to the bill, which has gained steam in recent days, has come from Democrats as well as from groups including the American Medical Association and AARP. That criticism, Cassidy said, is misplaced and based on misinformation about the legislation. “All I can say is, everyone fears change. Everyone says, ‘even if it's from worse to better I don't want change,’” he told CNN.

Graham, in his own interview with Fox News’s “Fox & Friends” Wednesday morning, offered a similar defense of his bill and shot back at Kimmel over the comedian’s attack on Cassidy.

“Here's what I’d say to Mr. Kimmel: I understand the emotional nature of having a sick child, and we're all grateful your child is doing well,” Graham said, noting Cassidy’s past work as a physician at a nonprofit hospital. “I bet you he never called Sen. Cassidy and said ‘would you please set this straight?’ I bet he looked at some liberal talking point, bought it hook, line, and sinker, and went after Bill Cassidy without talking to him, and I think that's unfair.”

In an exchange with reporters Wednesday morning, Graham called reports that his and Cassidy's legislation would not cover those with preexisting conditions "complete garbage" and took another shot at Kimmel.

“I don’t like the idea of calling this good man a liar without even talking to him first," the South Carolina senator said. "That really says more about Mr. Kimmel than it does Dr. Cassidy.”

Burgess Everett contributed to this report.