American senators are working through the weekend for the initial 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 diminish as GOP senators floated a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Government Shutdown
The impact on Americans from the longest closure of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, carriers were compelled to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been delayed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Florida Resort
As Saturday's meeting got under way, Republican senators embraced a suggestion made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be substituted 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 bad Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE," Trump posted.
Republican Endorsement
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the patient," one senator said.
Another senator commended Trump's suggestion 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 reply to Trump's suggestion. "We must stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it straight to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Democratic Response
Opposition lawmakers expressed alarmed responses to Trump's proposal.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is another cynical attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "This is the same failed Republican plan that's been defeated by voters and Congress."
Another lawmaker reacted to the criticism of insurance companies by writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? In that case I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate adjourned without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an willingness to an developing proposal from a small group of centrist lawmakers to terminate the shutdown in return for a future vote on the ACA payments.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans rejected an proposal to restart the government and extend the subsidies for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator persisted in arguing that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the payments before discussing the long-term of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because people will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator said in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Political Dynamics
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 several Democrats to restart the government, and the idea of repealing and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Some observers suggested that the essence of such a proposal would remove the ACA's requirement that carriers cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his resort visit, 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 plan that was unsuccessful to garner enough support in 2017.
