American senators are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to diminish as GOP senators proposed a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
Growing Impact of Federal Closure
The impact on Americans from the lengthiest shutdown of the US government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, carriers were forced to ground planes and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.
President's Plan from Florida Resort
As Saturday's meeting got under way, Republican senators welcomed a proposal made on online platforms 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 Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking 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 posted.
GOP Endorsement
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is similar to a alternative for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We're going to replace this failing program with something that is truly better for the patient," one senator stated.
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'm writing the bill right now," a third senator posted in response to Trump's proposal. "We need to stop public funds from going to carriers and instead give it directly to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Opposition Reaction
Opposition lawmakers shared concerned reactions to Trump's proposal.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is yet another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "It's the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another lawmaker responded to the criticism of carriers by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? Then I applaud your support for Medicare for All."
Ongoing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an developing plan from a small group of centrist lawmakers to terminate the closure in return for a later vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an proposal to restart the government and extend the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic senator continued in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the future of the tax credits.
"Inaction is derelict because citizens will go bankrupt, 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."
Political Dynamics
None of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that patients would still need to buy plans from the same carriers, or that Republican lawmakers need the support of eight Democrats to restart the government, and the idea of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several analysts suggested that the core of such a plan would remove the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover individuals 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 repeal and replace Obamacare with a version of the proposal that was unsuccessful to garner enough backing in 2017.
