US lawmakers 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 resolve the impasse appeared to recede as GOP senators proposed a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Deepening Consequences of Federal Closure
The effect on Americans from the longest shutdown of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, carriers were forced to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been delayed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Proposal from Golf Course
As weekend meeting got started, Republican senators embraced a proposal made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be replaced 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 ineffective 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 welcomed the proposal, which is similar to a alternative for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the patient," one senator stated.
Another senator commended Trump's proposal on online platforms, and displayed 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 carriers and instead give it straight to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Democratic Response
Opposition senators shared alarmed responses to Trump's proposal.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same failed Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another senator reacted to the censure of carriers by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Seriously? In that case I applaud your support for Medicare for All."
Continuing Talks
The Senate adjourned without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an willingness to an developing proposal from a small group of centrist lawmakers to end the shutdown in return for a future vote on the Obamacare subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an proposal to reopen the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic senator continued in arguing that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the payments before negotiating the long-term of the tax credits.
"Doing nothing is derelict because citizens will go into debt, 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 Dynamics
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 legislators need the support of several Democrats to reopen the government, and the concept of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Some observers indicated that the core of such a proposal would remove the ACA's requirement that carriers cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump returned to his residence and reiterated on his demand that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to eliminate and overhaul Obamacare with a version of the plan that was unsuccessful to garner enough backing in 2017.
