The Graham-Cassidy legislation is not a perfect bill, but it's a good one to use when repealing and replacing Obamacare, Sen. John Kennedy said of the measure proposed in part by his fellow Louisiana lawmaker, Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy.
"There is no free lunch, and you aren't going to get one with this bill," the Republican lawmaker told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" program. "There are tradeoffs but if your litmus test is, as is mine, is it better than the Affordable Care Act? Clearly, the answer is yes."
The biggest opponents to the legislation, co-sponsored by South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, are Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, said Kennedy.
"I don't know Mr. Kimmel," said Kennedy. "He is a funny guy but I don't think people will confuse him with a well-respected healthcare expert. I wouldn't take advice from Charlie Sheen, either."
He said he also wouldn't call Kimmel, who says the Graham-Cassidy measure would endanger people like his infant son, who suffers from congenital heart disease, by removing provisions for covering pre-existing conditions.
Kennedy, though, said he would not consider Kimmel an "average American."
"I don't think the average American makes $12 million a year," said Kennedy. "Certainly this is America. You can believe what you want. He is entitled to his opinion. But I doubt he has read the bill."
Kennedy said he has known Cassidy, a physician "for the charity hospital here in Louisiana" for years and does not think he'd do anything to hurt anyone.
"He takes the oath he took as a physician seriously," said Kennedy. "It is not a perfect bill. I concede that. I have four amendments I will be offering to it myself. But if your litmus test is, as is mine, is it better than Obamacare, I think any reasonable person, any reasonably objective person would have to conclude that the answer is yes."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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