American lawmakers are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the federal closure began over a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to diminish as Republican senators proposed a plan unacceptable to Democrats: eliminating the ACA, known as Obamacare.
Deepening Impact of Government Shutdown
The impact on US citizens from the lengthiest shutdown of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, carriers were compelled to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been delayed for 42 million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Florida Resort
As weekend meeting got started, GOP 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 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 praised the plan, which is similar to a replacement for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We're going to replace this failing program with something that is truly better for the consumer," one senator said.
Another senator praised Trump's suggestion on social media, and stood next to a large print of Trump's post as he spoke on the Senate floor.
"I'm writing the bill right now," a third senator posted in response to Trump's proposal. "We need to stop taxpayer money 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."
Democratic Reaction
Opposition lawmakers shared concerned reactions to Trump's proposal.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been rejected by the public and Congress."
Another senator responded to the criticism of carriers by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Seriously? In that case I applaud your support for Medicare for All."
Continuing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an willingness to an emerging proposal from a handful of centrist lawmakers to end the shutdown in return for a later vote on the Obamacare 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 restart the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another leading Democratic lawmaker continued in arguing that Republicans should agree to a one-year extension of the subsidies before discussing the future of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because citizens will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a Senate address. "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 coverage from the same insurance companies, or that Republican legislators need the support of eight Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several analysts suggested that the core of such a proposal would eliminate the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover individuals with pre-existing conditions.
After his resort visit, Trump went back to his private club and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a version of the proposal that was unsuccessful to secure enough backing in 2017.
