US senators are working through the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began more than a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the impasse appeared to recede as Republican senators floated a proposal toxic to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Deepening Impact of Federal Closure
The impact on US citizens from the lengthiest closure of the US government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, airlines were compelled to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been delayed for forty-two million Americans.
President's Proposal from Florida Resort
As Saturday's meeting got started, GOP senators embraced a suggestion made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be substituted by HSA-style accounts.
"My recommendation is to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to profit-driven Insurance Companies in order to save the bad Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE," Trump posted.
GOP Endorsement
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is similar to a alternative for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the patient," one senator said.
Another senator praised Trump's suggestion on online platforms, and displayed a giant blow-up of Trump's post as he addressed on the Senate floor.
"I'm writing the bill right now," a third senator wrote in response to Trump's proposal. "We need to stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it directly to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Opposition Reaction
Democratic senators expressed concerned reactions to Trump's plan.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is yet another cynical attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same failed Republican plan that's been rejected by voters and Congress."
Another lawmaker reacted to the criticism of carriers by writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? Then I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate adjourned without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an emerging proposal from a handful of moderate Democrats to terminate the closure in return for a later vote on the ACA payments.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "need another way ahead" after Republicans rejected an proposal to reopen the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic lawmaker persisted in arguing that Republicans should agree to a one-year extension of the subsidies before negotiating the long-term of the tax credits.
"Doing nothing is derelict because people will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator said in a Senate address. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Political Situation
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that consumers would still need to buy coverage from the same carriers, or that Republican legislators need the backing of eight Democrats to restart the government, and the idea of repealing and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several analysts suggested that the essence of such a proposal would eliminate the ACA's requirement that carriers cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his resort visit, Trump returned to his private club and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a version of the proposal that was unsuccessful to garner enough backing in 2017.
