US lawmakers are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began more than a month ago, but expectations for a cross-party deal on how to resolve the impasse appeared to recede as GOP senators proposed a plan unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Deepening Consequences of Government Shutdown
The effect on US citizens from the longest closure of the US government in history deepened 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 Plan from Florida Resort
As Saturday's session got under way, GOP senators welcomed a suggestion made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be substituted by health savings accounts.
"I am recommending 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.
Republican Support
Multiple Republican senators praised the plan, which is similar to a alternative for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We will replace this failing program with something that is truly better for the consumer," one senator stated.
Another senator praised Trump's proposal 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 wrote 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."
Opposition Reaction
Opposition senators expressed concerned responses 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 stated. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been rejected by voters and Congress."
Another lawmaker responded to the criticism of carriers by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? In that case I applaud your support for Medicare for All."
Continuing Talks
The Senate went into recess without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an emerging plan from a handful of centrist lawmakers to end the shutdown in return for a later vote on the ACA subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans rejected an proposal to reopen the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator persisted in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a one-year extension of the subsidies before discussing the future of the tax credits.
"Inaction is derelict because people will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That's 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 legislators need the backing of several Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several observers indicated that the essence of such a proposal would remove the ACA's requirement that carriers cover patients with existing health issues.
After his golf outing, Trump went back to his private club and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to eliminate and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that failed to garner enough support in 2017.
