American senators are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began more than a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to recede as Republican senators proposed a plan unacceptable to Democrats: eliminating the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Growing Impact of Federal Closure
The impact on US citizens from the longest shutdown of the federal government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, airlines were compelled to cancel flights and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Proposal from Florida Resort
As Saturday's session got under way, GOP senators embraced a suggestion made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be substituted 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 posted.
Republican Support
Several Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is similar to a replacement for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We're going to replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the patient," one senator stated.
Another senator commended 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 must stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it directly to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Opposition Reaction
Opposition senators expressed alarmed responses 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 commented. "It's the same failed Republican plan that's been defeated by voters and Congress."
Another lawmaker responded to the censure of insurance companies by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? Then I welcome your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate went into recess without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an developing proposal from a handful of centrist lawmakers to end the closure in return for a later vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "need another path forward" after Republicans rejected an offer to reopen the government and extend the subsidies for a year.
Another senior Democratic lawmaker continued in maintaining that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the future of the tax credits.
"Inaction is derelict because people will go bankrupt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Partisan Situation
None of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that patients would still need to buy coverage from the same carriers, or that Republican lawmakers need the support of several 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 remove the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his resort visit, Trump went back to his private club and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to eliminate and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that failed to garner enough backing in 2017.
