Letter to Jimmy Kimmel: Healthcare Courage
When Billy’s heart stopped, you used your platform to speak for every parent who doesn’t have one.
Dear Mr. Kimmel,
I watched your monologue. The one where you cried on television. The one where you told America that your newborn son Billy needed emergency heart surgery, and you were one of the fortunate ones because you could afford it.
Then you did something that still echoes.
You said: “No parent should ever have to decide if they can afford to save their child’s life.”
And you kept saying it. You used the biggest microphone you had to speak for every parent in an emergency room doing math they never wanted to do.
Why I’m Writing
I’m building something called Liana Banyan. One of our sixteen initiatives is LifeLine Medications — community-coordinated access to affordable healthcare.
The System Is Broken — And They Know It
Yesterday (February 12, 2026), The New York Times reported that the Senate Health Committee is investigating a private company that makes millions off a federal drug program meant to help the poor. The 340B program — started in 1992 to help safety-net hospitals provide for needy patients — has been captured by a single company, Apexus, which enjoys profit margins above 80% while patients are “left with big bills” and “rarely know they are part of this system.”
Senator Bill Cassidy’s letter cited a 3,291 percent increase in the program from 2005 to 2024, with $81.4 billion spent on drugs in 2024. Johns Hopkins professor Ge Bai called it a “government-protected monopoly” with “unintended consequences.”
This is exactly why LifeLine Medications exists. Not to reform a broken system from inside — but to build parallel infrastructure where communities pool purchasing power, negotiate directly, and use transparent pricing so no one pays more than cost plus a fair margin.
We’re not a charity. We’re infrastructure. The difference matters.
Charities ask for donations. We build systems where communities pool purchasing power, negotiate directly with manufacturers, and use transparent pricing so no one pays more than cost plus a fair margin.
We’re naming the health initiatives The Tatiana Schlossberg Health Accords — after a journalist who wrote about broken healthcare systems while facing her own terminal diagnosis. She documented what was wrong so others could build what heals.
You did the same thing. You used your pain to spotlight everyone else’s.
The Ask
We need voices. People who have stood in emergency rooms doing impossible math, who have enough platform to be heard, but enough experience to remember what it felt like before they could afford the answer.
Would you look at what we’re building?
If it’s good, say so. If it’s flawed, tell us. If it’s worth supporting, point others our way.
We don’t need your money. We need your reputation — the same thing you spent on that monologue.
The Connection
This letter lives alongside:
- The Tatiana Schlossberg Health Accords — the journalist who wrote until the end
- Cardboard Boots — why we send our last dollar to someone else’s child
- The Pet Store Consideration — when I almost took my own child to a veterinarian
We’re building for the parents who don’t have platforms. Your voice could reach them.
With respect,
Jonathan Jones
Founder, Liana Banyan Corporation
406-578-1232 | Founder@LianaBanyan.com
Enclosure: My Eldest Son — He Made It
My eldest son, now serving in the U.S. Marines. At three weeks old, he needed emergency heart surgery. An immigrant doctor at a free clinic saved his life. I know what it’s like to do that math.
He made it. So did Billy. Not everyone does.
“No parent should ever have to decide if they can afford to save their child’s life.”
— Jimmy Kimmel, 2017
For the Keep.