American lawmakers are working through the weekend for the first time since the federal closure began more than a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to end the impasse appeared to diminish as Republican senators proposed a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: eliminating the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Government Shutdown
The impact on US citizens from the lengthiest shutdown of the federal 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 42 million Americans.
Trump's Proposal from Florida Resort
As Saturday's meeting got started, Republican senators embraced a suggestion made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be substituted by HSA-style accounts.
"My recommendation is to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking 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 wrote.
Republican Support
Several Republican senators welcomed the proposal, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We're going to replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the consumer," one senator said.
Another senator commended Trump's suggestion on online platforms, and stood next to a giant blow-up of Trump's post as he spoke on the Senate floor.
"I am drafting the bill right now," a third senator wrote in response to Trump's suggestion. "We need to stop taxpayer money from going to insurance companies and instead give it directly to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Democratic Reaction
Opposition lawmakers shared concerned responses to Trump's proposal.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "It's the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another senator reacted to the criticism of insurance companies by writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? Then I welcome your support for Medicare for All."
Ongoing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an developing plan from a small group of moderate Democrats to terminate the shutdown in return for a future vote on the Obamacare subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an proposal to restart the government and extend the subsidies for a year.
Another senior Democratic lawmaker persisted in arguing that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before discussing the long-term of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is derelict because people will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator said in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Partisan Situation
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to address 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 idea of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Some observers suggested that the core of such a proposal would eliminate the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump returned to his private club and reiterated on his demand that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to eliminate and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that was unsuccessful to garner enough backing in 2017.
