Jimmy Fallon slammed Obamacare on Wednesday’s installment of The Tonight Show .
Fallon played Vladimir Putin in a skit that satirized a Ukraine-related cell phone conversation between the Russian president and an actor portraying Barack Obama.
What’s striking about the Fallon Obamacare ridicule is that the new host of the show is generally regarded as a liberal Democrat and big Obama/Hillary Clinton booster, as is Seth Meyers . The former Saturday Night Live cast member has a track record of ridiculing Republicans, however. SNL boss (and Tonight Show producer) Lorne Michaels has admitted that in the context of political satire, “Republicans are easier for us than Democrats. Democrats tend to take it personally; Republicans think it’s funny.”
In the Tonight Show comedy bit where the two leaders discussed Russia’s invasion of Crimea (see embed below), the Obama impersonator said:
Look, don’t you see what you’re doing though? You’re forcing people to accept something that the majority of them don’t even want.”
Responded Fallon/Putin:
“Yes, in Russia we have word for this: Obamacare.
The two actors also took a swipe at US Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for good measure, to the tune of Cypress Hill’s “Insane in the Membrane.”
Last month, Jimmy Kimmel — the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live — also parodied the Obamacare rollout , particularly the ongoing HealthCare.gov website glitches. “Whatever you think of universal health care, the whole thing definitely hasn’t been working as well as it should be,” he noted in his introduction.
Even though the Obamacare employer mandate for big business and mid-size business has been postponed, consumers who buy their new or existing coverage on the individual market or obtain it through work are seeing skyrocketing premiums and increased co-pays and deductibles. This is in part due to the one-size-fits-all Obamacare mandated benefits, which forces consumers into coverage that can be inappropriate for their age or gender.
To be sure, there was a lot of room for improvement pre-Obamacare in the health insurance sector and the healthcare delivery system.That being said, the American people were promised that Obamacare, a.k.a the Affordable Care Act, would make health insurance more affordable and they could keep their existing plans and doctors. Many Americans have been locked out of exiting provider networks as a result of Obamacare plans. Some consumers are eligible for taxpayer-funded subsidies when a health insurance policy is bought though the Obamacare exchanges, but an inducement of that nature can rise of fall with income or tax rules changes.
Apart from late night comedians such as Jimmy Fallon, US Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) recently claimed that consumers who have complained about high rates, cancelled coverage, or missing enrollment records were “liars.” Unfortunately he was serious rather than trying to make a joke. Reid’s extravagant claims prompted significant pushback, including this video:
[Jimmy Fallon image credit: Vivanista1 ]