ABC/Randy Holmes(LOS ANGELES) — Jimmy Kimmel returned to television Monday night after a week away, and a week after he weighed into the heated national healthcare debate with a moving story about his son, Billy, who was born with a heart defect.

The host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! said, “First I want to tell you because so many people have asked: Our son Billy is doing very well. He’s eating. He is getting bigger. He is sleeping well. He can read now, which they say is unusual….”

Last week Kimmel choked back tears in an emotional story about his son who underwent surgery on his heart three days after he was born. During his monologue, Kimmel asked all politicians of all parties to come together to ensure healthcare for all Americans, especially those who have pre-existing conditions.

That monologue became national news as many who supported Kimmel’s point of view shared it online. Kimmel noted that there were others who referred to him as an “out of touch Hollywood elitist.” To those critics, the late night host offered a scathing apology.

“I’d like to apologize for saying that children in America should have health care,” Kimmel joked. “It was insensitive – it was offensive – and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”

He then interviewed Bill Cassidy, a Republican senator from Louisiana who is also an MD, and who last week tweeted that there should be a “Kimmel Test” put to any healthcare bill.

“The Jimmy Kimmel Test,” Cassidy said, should adequately cover pre-existing conditions in any healthcare bill, “but in a fiscally conservative way that lowers cost.”

Kimmel praised Cassidy’s ideas, saying, “He is a doctor, a gastroenterologist. He is married to a retired doctor, his wife Laura Cassidy, was a surgeon. And he co-founded the Greater Baton Rouge Community Clinic, which provides free dental care and health care to the working uninsured. So obviously – this is someone who cares about people’s health.”

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