American senators are working through the weekend for the first time since the federal closure began more than a month ago, but expectations for a cross-party deal on how to resolve the impasse appeared to diminish as GOP senators floated a proposal toxic to Democrats: eliminating the ACA, known as Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Government Shutdown
The effect on Americans from the lengthiest shutdown of the US government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, carriers were compelled to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been delayed for 42 million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Florida Resort
As Saturday's session got under way, Republican senators embraced a proposal made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be substituted by HSA-style accounts.
"My recommendation is 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.
Republican Support
Multiple Republican senators praised the proposal, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the consumer," one senator said.
Another senator praised Trump's proposal on social media, and displayed a large print of Trump's post as he addressed on the Senate floor.
"I am drafting the bill right now," a third senator posted in response to Trump's proposal. "We must stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it directly to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Opposition Response
Democratic senators expressed alarmed reactions to Trump's plan.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is another calculated attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "It's the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by voters and Congress."
Another lawmaker reacted to the censure of insurance companies by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the large insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Really? In that case I welcome your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate went into recess without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an developing plan from a handful of centrist lawmakers to terminate the closure in exchange for a future vote on the ACA payments.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "need 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 one-year extension of the subsidies before negotiating the long-term of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is derelict because citizens will go bankrupt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator said in a floor speech. "That is what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Political Dynamics
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 several Democrats to restart the government, and the idea of repealing and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Some analysts indicated that the essence of such a plan would eliminate the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover patients 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 eliminate and overhaul Obamacare with a version of the plan that failed to garner enough support in 2017.
