American senators are working through the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to end the impasse appeared to recede as GOP senators floated a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, known as Obamacare.
Deepening Consequences of Federal Closure
The impact on Americans from the longest shutdown of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went without pay, airlines were compelled to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Florida Resort
As Saturday's meeting got under way, GOP senators welcomed a suggestion made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be substituted by HSA-style accounts.
"My recommendation is to Senate Republicans that the 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 proposal, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We're going to replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the consumer," one senator said.
Another senator commended Trump's suggestion on online platforms, and displayed 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 need to stop public funds 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 senators shared alarmed responses to Trump's plan.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' 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 defeated by voters and Congress."
Another senator responded to the censure of insurance companies by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? Then I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Continuing Talks
The Senate went into recess without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an willingness to an emerging proposal from a small group of centrist lawmakers to end 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 path forward" after Republicans turned down an offer to restart the government and extend the subsidies for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator persisted in arguing that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before discussing the long-term of the subsidies.
"Inaction is derelict because citizens will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator stated 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 patients would still need to buy plans from the same carriers, or that Republican lawmakers need the backing of several Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of repealing and substituting Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Some analysts indicated that the core of such a proposal would eliminate 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 agreement and try instead to eliminate and overhaul Obamacare with a version of the proposal that failed to secure enough support in 2017.
