US senators are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began more than a month ago, but expectations for a cross-party deal on how to resolve the standoff appeared to diminish as Republican senators proposed a plan unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, known as Obamacare.
Growing Impact of Federal Closure
The effect on Americans from the lengthiest closure of the US government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, airlines were compelled to cancel flights and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.
President's Proposal from Florida Resort
As weekend meeting got started, Republican 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 replaced by health savings accounts.
"I am recommending 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.
GOP Support
Several Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We're going to replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the consumer," one senator stated.
Another senator commended Trump's proposal on social media, 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 posted in reply to Trump's suggestion. "We need to stop public funds from going to insurance companies and instead give it directly to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Opposition Reaction
Opposition senators shared alarmed reactions to Trump's plan.
"In other words, 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 defeated by voters and Congress."
Another senator responded to the censure of carriers by writing: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? In that case I welcome your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate adjourned without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an willingness to an developing plan from a small group of moderate Democrats to terminate the shutdown in return for a future vote on the ACA subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the talks among centrists, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans rejected an offer to restart the government and extend the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic senator continued in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before negotiating the long-term of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because people will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator said in a floor speech. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Partisan Dynamics
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 legislators need the backing of eight Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of repealing and substituting Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Several analysts suggested that the essence of such a proposal would eliminate the ACA's requirement that carriers cover patients with existing health issues.
After his resort visit, Trump returned to his residence and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a version of the plan that was unsuccessful to secure enough support in 2017.
