American senators are working through the weekend for the initial time since the federal closure began more than a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to diminish as Republican senators proposed a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Growing Impact of Federal Closure
The impact on Americans from the longest shutdown of the US government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went without pay, airlines were forced to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.
President's Proposal from Golf Course
As weekend session got started, GOP senators welcomed 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 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 wrote.
GOP Support
Multiple Republican senators praised the plan, which is similar to 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 displayed a giant blow-up of Trump's post as he spoke on the Senate floor.
"I'm writing the bill right now," a third senator wrote 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."
Democratic Reaction
Opposition lawmakers expressed concerned reactions to Trump's plan.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is another cynical attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "This is the same failed Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another senator responded to the criticism of carriers by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? Then I welcome your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Negotiations
The Senate adjourned without reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an emerging plan from a handful of moderate Democrats to terminate the closure in return for a future vote on the ACA subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans rejected an proposal to restart the government and extend the subsidies for a year.
Another leading Democratic lawmaker continued in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a one-year extension of the subsidies before negotiating the long-term of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because people will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get sicker," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Partisan Situation
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that consumers would still need to buy plans from the same insurance companies, or that Republican legislators need the backing of several Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several observers indicated that the core of such a proposal would eliminate the ACA's mandate that carriers cover patients with existing health issues.
After his golf outing, Trump went back to his residence and reiterated 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 secure enough backing in 2017.
