American senators are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the federal closure began more than a month ago, but hopes for a cross-party deal on how to resolve the standoff appeared to diminish as GOP senators floated a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Growing Impact of Government Shutdown
The impact on Americans from the lengthiest closure of the US government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, carriers were forced to ground planes and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
President's Plan from Golf Course
As weekend session got started, Republican 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 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 posted.
GOP Endorsement
Multiple Republican senators praised the plan, which is similar to a alternative 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 suggestion on social media, and stood next to a large print of Trump's post as he spoke on the Senate floor.
"I am drafting the bill right now," a third senator posted in reply to Trump's suggestion. "We must 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 Response
Opposition senators expressed alarmed reactions to Trump's proposal.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is yet 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 senator responded to the criticism of carriers by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Really? In that case I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate adjourned without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an emerging proposal from a small group of moderate Democrats to terminate the closure in exchange for a future vote on the ACA payments.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the talks among moderates, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans turned down an offer to reopen the government and continue the subsidies for a year.
Another leading Democratic lawmaker persisted in arguing that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before negotiating the future of the tax credits.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because people will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get sicker," the senator said in a Senate address. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Political Dynamics
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that consumers would still need to buy plans from the same carriers, or that Republican legislators need the backing of eight Democrats to restart the government, and the idea of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Some analysts indicated that the essence of such a proposal would remove the ACA's requirement that carriers cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump went back to his residence and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a version of the plan that was unsuccessful to secure enough support in 2017.
