American senators are working through the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but expectations for a cross-party deal on how to resolve the impasse appeared to diminish as Republican senators proposed a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Growing 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 unpaid, airlines were forced to cancel flights and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.
President's Plan from Florida Resort
As weekend session got under way, GOP senators embraced a suggestion made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be substituted by HSA-style 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
Several Republican senators praised the proposal, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We're going to replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the consumer," one senator stated.
Another senator commended Trump's proposal on social media, 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 posted in response to Trump's proposal. "We must stop public funds from going to insurance companies and instead give it directly to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Democratic Response
Opposition senators shared alarmed responses to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is yet another cynical attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by voters and Congress."
Another senator responded to the censure of carriers by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? In that case I welcome your support for Medicare for All."
Continuing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an willingness to an developing proposal from a small group of moderate Democrats to terminate the closure in return for a later vote on the ACA payments.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans rejected an offer to restart the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator continued in arguing that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before discussing the long-term of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is derelict because citizens will go bankrupt, people will lose insurance, people will get more ill," the senator said in a Senate address. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Political Dynamics
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that patients would still need to buy coverage from the same carriers, or that Republican lawmakers need the backing of several Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Some analysts suggested that the essence of such a proposal would eliminate the ACA's mandate that carriers cover individuals with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump returned to his private club and reiterated on his demand that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that failed to garner enough support in 2017.
