US senators are working through the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to recede as GOP senators floated a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, known as Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Federal Closure
The impact on US citizens from the lengthiest shutdown of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, airlines were forced to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.
Trump's Proposal from Florida Resort
As weekend meeting got under way, GOP senators welcomed a proposal made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be substituted by health savings accounts.
"My recommendation is to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking Insurance Companies in order to save the ineffective Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE," Trump posted.
GOP Support
Several Republican senators praised the plan, which is similar to a alternative for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We will replace this failing program with something that is actually better for the consumer," one senator said.
Another senator commended Trump's suggestion on social media, and stood next to 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 response to Trump's suggestion. "We must stop public funds from going to carriers and instead give it directly to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Democratic Reaction
Opposition lawmakers shared concerned reactions to Trump's plan.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is another calculated attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "This is the same failed Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another lawmaker responded to the censure of insurance companies by writing: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? In that case I welcome your support for Medicare for All."
Continuing Negotiations
The Senate adjourned without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an emerging proposal from a small group of moderate Democrats to end the closure in exchange for a future vote on the ACA payments.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans turned down an proposal to reopen the government and extend the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic senator continued in maintaining that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the subsidies before discussing the future of the tax credits.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because citizens will go bankrupt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator said in a Senate address. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Partisan Dynamics
None of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that patients would still need to buy coverage from the same carriers, or that Republican lawmakers need the support of eight Democrats to reopen the government, and the concept of repealing and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Several analysts suggested that the core of such a plan would eliminate the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump went back to his private club 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 failed to garner enough backing in 2017.
