American senators are working through the weekend for the first time since the federal closure began over a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to end the impasse appeared to recede as GOP senators floated a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Deepening Consequences of Government Shutdown
The impact on US citizens from the lengthiest closure of the federal government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, carriers were forced to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
President's Proposal from Florida Resort
As Saturday's session got under way, Republican senators embraced a suggestion made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be replaced by HSA-style 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 posted.
GOP Endorsement
Several Republican senators welcomed the proposal, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare proposed 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 suggestion. "We need to stop public funds from going to insurance companies and instead give it straight to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Opposition Reaction
Democratic lawmakers expressed alarmed responses to Trump's proposal.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is yet another cynical attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "It's the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another senator responded to the criticism of carriers by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? In that case I welcome your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an developing proposal from a small group of centrist lawmakers to end the closure in return for a later vote on the ACA payments.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the talks among centrists, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans turned down an proposal to reopen the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic senator persisted in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before discussing the long-term of the tax credits.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because citizens will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Partisan Dynamics
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that consumers would still need to buy coverage from the same insurance companies, or that Republican lawmakers need the support of several Democrats to reopen the government, and the concept of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several observers indicated that the core of such a plan would remove the ACA's mandate that carriers cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his resort visit, Trump returned to his residence and doubled down on his demand that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to eliminate and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that was unsuccessful to secure enough support in 2017.
