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 Republican senators floated a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, known as Obamacare.
Deepening Consequences of Government Shutdown
The effect on US citizens from the longest closure 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 Saturday's meeting got under way, GOP senators embraced a suggestion made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be replaced by HSA-style accounts.
"My recommendation is to Senate Republicans that the 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 Endorsement
Several Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We're going to replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the patient," one senator said.
Another senator praised 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 need to stop public funds from going to insurance companies and instead give it straight to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Opposition Reaction
Democratic lawmakers shared concerned reactions to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is yet another cynical attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been rejected by voters and Congress."
Another lawmaker reacted to the criticism of insurance companies by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Really? In that case I welcome your support for Medicare for All."
Ongoing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an willingness to an developing plan from a handful of centrist lawmakers to end the closure in return for a future vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the talks among centrists, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans rejected an offer to restart the government and continue the subsidies for a year.
Another senior Democratic senator persisted in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before discussing the long-term of the tax credits.
"Inaction is irresponsible because citizens will go bankrupt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator said in a Senate address. "That's what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Partisan Situation
None of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that consumers would still need to buy plans from the same carriers, or that Republican lawmakers need the support of eight Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of repealing and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Some analysts suggested that the core of such a proposal would remove the ACA's mandate that carriers cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump went back to his residence and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a version of the proposal that failed to garner enough backing in 2017.
