American senators are working through the weekend for the initial time since the federal closure began over a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the impasse appeared to diminish as GOP senators floated a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, called Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Federal Closure
The impact on Americans from the longest shutdown of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, carriers were forced to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been delayed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Florida Resort
As weekend meeting got started, GOP senators embraced a proposal made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be replaced by health savings 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 ineffective Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE," Trump wrote.
GOP Support
Multiple Republican senators praised the plan, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the patient," one senator said.
Another senator praised Trump's proposal on social media, and stood next to a large print of Trump's post as he spoke on the Senate floor.
"I am drafting the bill right now," a third senator posted in response to Trump's proposal. "We must stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it straight to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Democratic Response
Democratic lawmakers shared alarmed responses to Trump's proposal.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is yet another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "It's the same failed Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another lawmaker reacted to the criticism of insurance companies by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Seriously? In that case I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate went into recess without reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an willingness to an emerging proposal from a small group of centrist lawmakers to end the closure in exchange for a later vote on the ACA subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the talks among moderates, said that Democrats "need another path forward" after Republicans turned down an proposal to reopen the government and continue the subsidies for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator persisted in arguing that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the future of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is derelict because people will go bankrupt, people will lose insurance, people will get more ill," the senator said in a Senate address. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Political Situation
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that patients would still need to buy plans from the same carriers, or that Republican legislators need the support of several Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of repealing and substituting Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Some observers suggested that the essence of such a proposal would eliminate the ACA's mandate that carriers cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump returned to his residence and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a version of the plan that failed to secure enough backing in 2017.
