American lawmakers are working through the weekend for the first time since the federal closure began over a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to end the standoff appeared to recede as GOP senators proposed a plan unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, known as Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Federal Closure
The impact on Americans from the longest closure of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, carriers were compelled to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been delayed for 42 million Americans.
President's Plan from Florida Resort
As weekend meeting got started, Republican 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 replaced by HSA-style 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 bad Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE," Trump wrote.
Republican Support
Multiple Republican senators praised the plan, which is similar to a replacement for Obamacare put forward 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 proposal on online platforms, and stood next to a large print of Trump's post as he spoke on the Senate floor.
"I'm writing the bill right now," a third senator posted in reply to Trump's suggestion. "We need to stop taxpayer money from going to insurance companies and instead give it directly to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Opposition Reaction
Democratic senators expressed alarmed reactions to Trump's proposal.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is another cynical attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another senator responded to the criticism of insurance companies by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? Then I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an willingness to an emerging plan from a small group of centrist lawmakers to end the closure in return for a future vote on the ACA subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the talks among moderates, said that Democrats "need another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an offer to restart the government and continue the subsidies for a year.
Another leading Democratic lawmaker persisted in arguing that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the payments before discussing the long-term of the subsidies.
"Inaction is irresponsible because citizens will go bankrupt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator said in a Senate address. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Partisan Dynamics
None of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that consumers would still need to buy plans from the same insurance companies, or that Republican legislators need the support of several Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with HSAs is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Some analysts suggested that the essence of such a proposal would eliminate the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover patients with existing health issues.
After his resort visit, Trump went back to his private club and reiterated on his demand that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that failed to secure enough support in 2017.
