US senators are working through the weekend for the first time since the federal closure began more than a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to diminish as GOP senators floated a plan toxic to Democrats: eliminating the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Deepening Consequences of Federal Closure
The effect on US citizens from the lengthiest shutdown of the federal government in history deepened on Saturday, as federal workers went without pay, airlines were forced to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
President's Proposal from Florida Resort
As weekend session got started, Republican senators embraced a proposal made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be substituted by health savings 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 posted.
Republican Endorsement
Multiple Republican senators praised the plan, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We're going to replace this failing program with something that is actually better for the consumer," one senator stated.
Another senator praised Trump's proposal 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 posted in response to Trump's suggestion. "We need to stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it straight to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Opposition Reaction
Opposition senators expressed alarmed reactions to Trump's plan.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is yet another cynical attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another senator reacted to the censure of carriers by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? Then I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Continuing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an willingness to an emerging plan from a handful of moderate Democrats to end the closure in return for a later vote on the ACA subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an proposal to reopen the government and continue the subsidies for a year.
Another leading Democratic lawmaker persisted in arguing that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the long-term of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is derelict because people will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator stated 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 consumers would still need to buy plans from the same carriers, or that Republican legislators need the support of eight Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several observers suggested that the essence of such a proposal would remove the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover individuals with pre-existing conditions.
After his resort visit, Trump went back to his residence and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that was unsuccessful to secure enough backing in 2017.
