US senators are working through the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began more than a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to recede as Republican senators floated a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, called Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Government Shutdown
The impact on US citizens from the longest shutdown of the US government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, carriers were compelled to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Florida Resort
As Saturday's session got under way, GOP senators embraced a suggestion made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be substituted by health savings accounts.
"I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the 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 posted.
Republican Support
Multiple Republican senators praised the proposal, which is comparable with a alternative for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We're going to replace this failing program 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 addressed on the Senate floor.
"I am drafting the bill right now," a third senator wrote in reply to Trump's proposal. "We must stop public funds from going to carriers and instead give it straight to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Opposition Response
Opposition senators shared alarmed responses to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is another cynical attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "It's the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another lawmaker responded to the criticism of carriers by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Really? In that case I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Negotiations
The Senate adjourned without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an developing plan from a small group of moderate Democrats to end the closure in exchange for a future vote on the Obamacare subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the talks among centrists, said that Democrats "need another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an offer to reopen the government and extend the subsidies for a year.
Another senior Democratic senator continued in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a one-year extension of the subsidies before discussing the long-term of the subsidies.
"Inaction is derelict because people will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a Senate address. "That's what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Political Situation
None of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that consumers would still need to buy plans from the same carriers, or that Republican legislators need the backing of several Democrats to restart the government, and the idea of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Several observers suggested that the core of such a proposal would remove the ACA's mandate that carriers cover individuals with existing health issues.
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 replace Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that was unsuccessful to garner enough backing in 2017.
