US senators are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the federal closure began more than a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to end the standoff appeared to recede as Republican senators proposed a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: eliminating the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Growing Impact of Federal Closure
The effect on Americans from the lengthiest closure of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, airlines were forced to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been delayed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Proposal from Florida Resort
As weekend session got under way, GOP senators embraced a proposal 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 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 wrote.
Republican Support
Several Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is comparable with a alternative for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the patient," one senator stated.
Another senator commended Trump's suggestion on social media, and displayed a large print of Trump's post as he addressed on the Senate floor.
"I'm writing the bill right now," a third senator wrote in reply 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 Reaction
Opposition senators shared concerned responses to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is another calculated attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been rejected by voters and Congress."
Another senator responded to the criticism of insurance companies by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? Then I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Negotiations
The Senate adjourned without reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an emerging proposal from a small group of centrist lawmakers to end the closure in return for a future vote on the Obamacare subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "need another way ahead" after Republicans rejected an proposal to reopen the government and extend the payments for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator continued in arguing that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the long-term of the tax credits.
"Inaction is derelict because citizens will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator said in a floor speech. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Partisan Situation
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to address 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 reopen the government, and the idea of repealing and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Some analysts suggested that the essence of such a plan would remove the ACA's mandate that carriers cover individuals with pre-existing conditions.
After his resort visit, Trump returned to his private club and reiterated on his demand that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that was unsuccessful to garner enough backing in 2017.
