American senators are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began more than a month ago, but hopes for a cross-party deal on how to resolve the impasse appeared to recede as Republican senators floated a plan unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
Deepening Consequences of Government Shutdown
The impact on Americans from the longest shutdown of the federal government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, carriers were forced to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
President's Proposal from Florida Resort
As Saturday's session got under way, Republican senators welcomed 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
Several Republican senators praised the plan, which is similar to a replacement for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We're going to replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the consumer," one senator said.
Another senator praised Trump's suggestion on online platforms, and stood next to a large print of Trump's post as he addressed on the Senate floor.
"I am drafting the bill right now," a third senator wrote in reply to Trump's suggestion. "We need to stop public funds from going to carriers and instead give it straight to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Democratic Reaction
Democratic senators shared alarmed reactions to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'proposal' 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 voters and Congress."
Another senator reacted to the criticism of insurance companies by writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Really? In that case I welcome your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate went into recess without reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an willingness to an emerging proposal from a small group of moderate Democrats to terminate the shutdown in exchange for a future vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an offer to reopen the government and continue the subsidies for a year.
Another leading Democratic lawmaker continued in arguing that Republicans should agree to a one-year extension of the payments before negotiating the future of the subsidies.
"Inaction is irresponsible because citizens will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get sicker," the senator said in a floor speech. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Political Situation
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that patients would still need to buy coverage from the same insurance companies, or that Republican lawmakers need the backing of eight Democrats to reopen the government, and the concept of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is improbable to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Several analysts indicated that the core of such a plan would remove the ACA's requirement that carriers cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump went back to his private club and doubled down on his demand that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to eliminate and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that was unsuccessful to secure enough support in 2017.
