American lawmakers are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the federal closure began more than 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: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
Growing 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 unpaid, carriers were forced to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been delayed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Golf Course
As weekend session got started, GOP senators embraced a suggestion made on social media 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 Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking 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.
GOP Endorsement
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the proposal, which is similar to a alternative for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We're going to replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the consumer," one senator stated.
Another senator praised Trump's suggestion on social media, and stood next to a large print of Trump's post as he spoke on the Senate floor.
"I am drafting the bill right now," a third senator posted in response to Trump's proposal. "We must 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."
Opposition Response
Democratic lawmakers expressed concerned reactions to Trump's plan.
"In other words, 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 senator reacted to the criticism of carriers by writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? Then I welcome your support for Medicare for All."
Continuing Talks
The Senate adjourned without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an emerging proposal from a small group of moderate Democrats to terminate the shutdown in exchange for a future vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the talks among centrists, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans rejected an proposal to reopen the government and continue the subsidies for a year.
Another senior Democratic senator continued in arguing that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the payments before discussing the future of the tax credits.
"Inaction is irresponsible because citizens will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get more ill," the senator said in a floor speech. "That is what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Partisan Situation
None of the Republican senators seemed to address 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 repealing and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Some analysts suggested that the essence of such a plan would eliminate the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump went back to his residence and doubled down on his demand that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that failed to garner enough backing in 2017.
