US lawmakers are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to end the standoff appeared to recede as Republican senators proposed a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, called Obamacare.
Growing Impact of Federal Closure
The impact on US citizens from the longest shutdown of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, airlines were compelled to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.
Trump's Proposal from Florida Resort
As Saturday's session got started, 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 health savings accounts.
"My recommendation is to Senate Republicans that the 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 Endorsement
Multiple Republican senators praised the proposal, which is similar to a alternative for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We will replace this failing program with something that is truly better for the patient," one senator stated.
Another senator commended Trump's suggestion on social media, and stood next to a large print of Trump's post as he addressed 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 health savings accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Opposition Response
Opposition lawmakers shared alarmed responses to Trump's plan.
"Essentially, 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 failed Republican plan that's been defeated by voters and Congress."
Another senator reacted to the criticism of carriers by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Really? In that case I applaud your support for Medicare for All."
Ongoing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an emerging proposal from a small group of moderate Democrats to terminate the shutdown in return for a later vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the talks among moderates, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans turned down an proposal to reopen the government and extend the subsidies for a year.
Another senior Democratic senator continued in maintaining that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the subsidies before negotiating the future of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is derelict because people will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator said in a Senate address. "That is what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Partisan Dynamics
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that consumers would still need to buy plans from the same carriers, or that Republican legislators 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.
Several observers suggested that the core of such a proposal would remove the ACA's mandate that insurance companies 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 agreement and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a version of the proposal that failed to secure enough backing in 2017.
