Jimmy Kimmel was crying before he even started talking.
âI have a story to tell about something that happened to our family last week,â the late-night host said at the top of his show Monday night. âBefore I go into it, I want you to know it has a happy ending.â Itâs a good thing he said that because otherwise, this 13-minute monologue would have been even more unbearable to endure.
Kimmel went on to tell his audience and viewers that this past week, his wife gave birth to a baby boy named William John KimmelâBilly for short. Everything seemed fine at first until a nurse noticed that his heart had a murmur and his coloring wasnât right.
A cardiac specialist rushed in and discovered that the baby had a dangerous heart condition and needed surgery right away. They brought him from Cedars-Sinai to Childrenâs Hospital in Los Angeles, where they successfully performed the first of several open-heart surgeries he will likely need over the next several years of his life.
As he told the story, thanking the doctors and nurses who diagnosed and treated his new son, along with the family members, coworkers, and friends who were there to support him, Kimmel regularly broke down in tears, struggling to get through the harrowing details.
Finally, after about 10 minutes, Kimmel decided he wanted to make a larger point about how the American health-care system works. He is among the wealthiest people in the country, able to afford any treatment his baby may have needed to survive. But he is aware that others are not so lucky and are forced to make horrible choices about how to proceed when they or their families need medical help. This was especially true before the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
Kimmel pointed out that just last month, President Trump proposed a $6 billion cut in funding to the National Institutes of Health. âAnd thank God our congressmen made a deal last night to not go along with that,â he said. Instead, they increased funding by $2 billion. âAnd I applaud them for doing that,â he added.
âWe were brought up to believe that we live in the greatest country in the world,â Kimmel continued. âBut until a few years ago, millions and millions of us had no access to health insurance at all. You know, before 2014, if you were born with congenital heart disease, like my son was, thereâs a good chance youâd never be able to get health insurance, because you had a pre-existing condition.â And if your parents didnât have insurance, he added, âYou may not even live long enough to get denied because of your pre-existing condition.â
âIf your baby is going to die and it doesnât have to, it shouldnât matter how much money you make,â Kimmel said, his voice breaking again. âI think thatâs something that whether youâre a Republican or a Democrat or something else, we all agree on that, right?â His audience roared with approval.
Whatever party you belong to, Kimmel said, âWe need to make sure that the people who represent us, and people are meeting about this right now in Washington, understand that very clearly. Letâs stop with the nonsense. This isnât football. There are no teams. We are the team. Itâs the United States. Donât let their partisan squabbles divide us on something every decent person wants.â
âWe need to take care of each other,â Kimmel said through tears. âNo parent should ever have to decide if they can afford to save their childâs life. It just shouldnât happen. Not here.â
It was the most personal, moving, and convincing case yet made by a public figure for keeping the Affordable Care Act intact. And it will be hard to ignore.