American senators are working through the weekend for the first time since the federal closure began more than a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to diminish as Republican senators floated a proposal toxic to Democrats: eliminating the ACA, called Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Federal Closure
The impact on Americans from the lengthiest closure of the federal government in history deepened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, airlines were forced to ground planes and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been delayed for 42 million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Florida Resort
As Saturday's meeting got under way, GOP 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.
"My recommendation is to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to profit-driven Insurance Companies in order to save the ineffective Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE," Trump posted.
GOP Endorsement
Several Republican senators praised the proposal, which is similar to a alternative for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We're going to replace this failing program with something that is actually better for the consumer," one senator said.
Another senator praised Trump's proposal on social media, and displayed a giant blow-up of Trump's post as he addressed on the Senate floor.
"I'm writing the bill right now," a third senator wrote in response to Trump's proposal. "We must 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
Opposition lawmakers shared concerned responses to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is yet another cynical attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "It's the same failed Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another senator reacted to the censure of insurance companies by writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the big, bad insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Seriously? In that case I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Continuing Negotiations
The Senate adjourned without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an developing proposal from a handful of centrist lawmakers to terminate the closure in return 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 restart the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator persisted in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a one-year extension of the payments before negotiating the future of the tax credits.
"Inaction is irresponsible because people will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get sicker," the senator stated in a Senate address. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Political Situation
None of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that patients would still need to buy plans from the same insurance companies, or that Republican lawmakers need the backing of several Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Some analysts suggested that the core of such a proposal would remove the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover individuals with existing health issues.
After his resort visit, Trump returned to his private club and reiterated on his insistence 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.
