American senators are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began more than a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to end the impasse appeared to diminish as GOP senators proposed a proposal toxic to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Deepening Impact of Federal Closure
The impact on US citizens from the longest shutdown of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went without pay, airlines were forced to cancel flights and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.
President's Proposal from Florida Resort
As Saturday's meeting 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.
"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 bad Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE," Trump wrote.
Republican Endorsement
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is similar to a replacement for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We will replace this failing program with something that is truly better for the patient," one senator stated.
Another senator commended Trump's suggestion on social media, and displayed a large print of Trump's post as he addressed 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 taxpayer money from going to insurance companies and instead give it directly to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Democratic Response
Opposition lawmakers expressed alarmed reactions to Trump's proposal.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is yet another calculated attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "It's the same failed Republican plan that's been rejected by the public and Congress."
Another senator responded to the censure of carriers by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the big, bad insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Seriously? In that case I welcome your support for Medicare for All."
Continuing Talks
The Senate went into recess without reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an emerging proposal from a handful of centrist lawmakers to end the closure in return for a later vote on the ACA subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the talks among moderates, said that Democrats "need another path forward" after Republicans turned down an proposal to reopen the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic lawmaker persisted in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the future of the tax credits.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because citizens will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator said in a Senate address. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Partisan Dynamics
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that consumers would still need to buy coverage from the same carriers, or that Republican lawmakers need the backing of several Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of repealing and substituting Obamacare with HSAs is improbable to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Several analysts suggested that the essence of such a proposal would remove the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover individuals with existing health issues.
After his golf outing, Trump returned to his private club and doubled down on his demand that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to eliminate and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that was unsuccessful to secure enough backing in 2017.
