By Glenn Kessler, The Washington Post
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel on Dec. 11 stepped out of his comedic role and offered a commentary on the reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, after introducing his son Billy, who has a serious heart issue. His presentation was a bit one-sided, and readers requested a fact check. It’s often difficult to describe Washington sausage-making in shorthand, and Kimmel fell short in several areas, appearing to pin most of the blame on Republicans — even though he was careful not to mention party affiliation.
So, in the video above and the text below, we offer a quick guide to his rhetoric. Since this is akin to a round-up, we’re not awarding Pinocchios.
We also want to thank the very bright and talented doctors and nurses at Children’s Hospital who treated Billy, and not just Billy, many kids with so much caring and compassion. Children from every income level whose health is especially threatened right now because of something you’ve probably never heard of; it’s called CHIP.
CHIP is the Children’s Health Insurance Program. 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 means it almost certainly covers children you know.
CHIP was created in 1997 during the Bill Clinton administration as part of a balanced-budget deal signed by the president. By all accounts, the prime mover behind CHIP was the late senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.). He was inspired by a similar Massachusetts program and then enlisted Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) as his partner in the effort. The original idea was to fund children’s health care with money raised from taxes on tobacco products. Hatch is still in the Senate and chairman of the Finance Committee, making him a key player in the negotiations.
About nine million children are enrolled in CHIP.
About 1 in 8 children are covered only by CHIP, and it’s not controversial. It’s not a partisan thing. In fact, the last time funding for CHIP was authorized was in 2015. It passed with a vote of 392 to 37 in the House and 92 to 8 in the Senate. Overwhelmingly, Democrats and Republicans supported it. Until now.
Support for CHIP remains bipartisan. Kimmel starts to go off the rails by suggesting that support is no longer bipartisan.
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