US 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 impasse appeared to recede as GOP senators proposed a proposal toxic to Democrats: eliminating the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Deepening Consequences of Government Shutdown
The effect on Americans from the longest closure of the US government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, airlines were forced to cancel flights and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been delayed for 42 million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Florida Resort
As weekend session got under way, Republican senators embraced a proposal made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be replaced by HSA-style 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 Support
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is comparable with a alternative for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We will replace this failing program with something that is truly better for the patient," one senator stated.
Another senator commended Trump's proposal on online platforms, and stood next to a giant blow-up of Trump's post as he addressed on the Senate floor.
"I am drafting the bill right now," a third senator wrote in response to Trump's suggestion. "We need to stop public funds from going to insurance companies and instead give it straight to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Opposition Response
Democratic senators shared alarmed responses to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' 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 voters and Congress."
Another lawmaker reacted to the criticism of insurance companies by writing: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? In that case I welcome your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate adjourned without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an emerging plan from a small group of centrist lawmakers to terminate the closure in return for a future vote on the Obamacare subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans turned down an proposal to reopen the government and continue the subsidies for a year.
Another senior Democratic senator continued in maintaining that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the payments before discussing the future of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is derelict because people will go bankrupt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a Senate address. "That is what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Political Dynamics
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that patients would still need to buy coverage from the same insurance companies, or that Republican lawmakers need the support of eight Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Some observers indicated that the core of such a plan would remove the ACA's mandate that carriers cover individuals with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump went back to his private club and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that was unsuccessful to garner enough support in 2017.
