US lawmakers are working through the weekend for the first time since the federal closure began over a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to end the impasse appeared to diminish as Republican senators proposed a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, known as Obamacare.
Growing Impact of Government Shutdown
The impact on US citizens from the longest shutdown of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, airlines were compelled to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been delayed for 42 million Americans.
Trump's Proposal from Florida Resort
As Saturday's meeting got under way, Republican senators welcomed a suggestion made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be replaced by health savings accounts.
"I am recommending 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 Support
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is comparable with a alternative for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the consumer," one senator said.
Another senator praised Trump's proposal on social media, and displayed 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 reply to Trump's proposal. "We need to stop public funds from going to carriers and instead give it straight to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Opposition Reaction
Democratic senators expressed concerned reactions to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is yet another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "This is the same failed Republican plan that's been rejected by the public and Congress."
Another lawmaker responded to the censure of insurance companies by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Really? Then I welcome your support for Medicare for All."
Continuing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an developing plan from a small group of moderate Democrats to terminate the closure in return for a future vote on the ACA payments.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans rejected an offer to restart the government and extend the subsidies for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator continued in arguing that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before negotiating the long-term of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because citizens will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator said in a Senate address. "That is what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Political Situation
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that patients would still need to buy coverage from the same insurance companies, or that Republican lawmakers need the backing of several Democrats to restart the government, and the idea of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Some analysts indicated that the core of such a plan would eliminate the ACA's mandate that carriers cover individuals with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump returned to his private club and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a version of the proposal that failed to secure enough backing in 2017.
