US senators are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but expectations for a cross-party deal on how to end the standoff appeared to recede as Republican senators proposed a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Deepening Consequences of Federal Closure
The effect on Americans from the lengthiest closure of the federal government in history deepened on Saturday, as federal workers went without pay, airlines were forced to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
President's Plan from Golf Course
As weekend meeting got started, GOP senators embraced a suggestion made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be replaced by health savings accounts.
"My recommendation is 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.
Republican Endorsement
Several 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 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 reply to Trump's proposal. "We must stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it directly to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Opposition Response
Opposition senators expressed concerned reactions to Trump's plan.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is yet another cynical attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another senator reacted to the criticism of insurance companies by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? In that case I applaud your support for Medicare for All."
Continuing Negotiations
The Senate adjourned without reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an willingness to an emerging plan from a small group of moderate Democrats to end the closure in return for a future vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "need another path forward" after Republicans rejected an proposal to reopen the government and extend the payments for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator persisted in arguing that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before negotiating the future of the subsidies.
"Inaction is irresponsible because people will go bankrupt, people will become uninsured, people will get sicker," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Political 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 lawmakers need the backing of eight Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of repealing and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Some observers suggested that the core of such a plan would remove the ACA's requirement that carriers cover individuals 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 eliminate and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that was unsuccessful to garner enough backing in 2017.
