US senators are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the federal closure began over a month ago, but expectations for a cross-party deal on how to resolve the standoff appeared to diminish as Republican senators proposed a plan unacceptable to Democrats: eliminating the ACA, known as Obamacare.
Deepening Consequences of Government Shutdown
The effect on Americans from the longest closure of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, airlines were compelled to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been delayed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Florida Resort
As weekend session got under way, Republican senators embraced a proposal made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be replaced by health savings accounts.
"I am recommending 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.
GOP Support
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the proposal, which is similar to a replacement for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the consumer," one senator stated.
Another senator praised Trump's proposal on social media, and stood next to 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 need to stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it directly to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Democratic Reaction
Democratic lawmakers shared concerned reactions to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is yet another calculated attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same failed Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another lawmaker reacted to the criticism of carriers by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? In that case I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an emerging plan from a small group of moderate Democrats to terminate the closure in return for a future vote on the Obamacare subsidies.
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 extend the subsidies for a year.
Another leading Democratic lawmaker continued in maintaining that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the payments before negotiating the long-term of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because citizens will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Political Situation
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that consumers would still need to buy coverage from the same insurance companies, or that Republican legislators need the support of several Democrats to reopen the government, and the concept of repealing and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several analysts suggested that the essence of such a proposal would remove the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover patients with existing health issues.
After his resort visit, Trump returned to his private club and reiterated on his demand that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to eliminate and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that failed to secure enough backing in 2017.
