American senators are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the federal closure began over a month ago, but hopes for a cross-party deal on how to end the impasse appeared to recede as Republican senators floated a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, known as Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Government Shutdown
The impact on Americans from the lengthiest closure of the US government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, airlines were compelled to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Proposal from Florida Resort
As Saturday's meeting got started, GOP senators embraced a proposal made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be substituted by health savings accounts.
"My recommendation is to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of 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 wrote.
Republican Endorsement
Multiple Republican senators praised the proposal, which is similar to a alternative for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We're going to replace this failing program with something that is actually better for the patient," one senator stated.
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 response to Trump's suggestion. "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."
Democratic Response
Opposition senators shared concerned reactions to Trump's proposal.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is another cynical attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "It's the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another senator reacted to the criticism of carriers by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? Then I welcome your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate adjourned without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an willingness to an developing proposal from a handful of centrist lawmakers to terminate the closure in return for a later vote on the ACA subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the talks among centrists, said that Democrats "need another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an offer to restart the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic lawmaker persisted in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the long-term of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is derelict because citizens will go bankrupt, people will lose insurance, people will get more ill," the senator said in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Political Dynamics
None 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 eight Democrats to reopen the government, and the concept of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Some observers suggested that the essence of such a proposal would eliminate the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his resort visit, Trump went back to his residence and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to eliminate and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that was unsuccessful to garner enough support in 2017.
