American lawmakers are working through the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to end the impasse appeared to recede as Republican senators proposed a plan unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
Growing Impact of Federal Closure
The effect on US citizens from the longest closure of the federal government in history deepened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, carriers were compelled to ground planes and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been delayed for 42 million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Florida Resort
As weekend meeting got started, GOP senators welcomed 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 health savings accounts.
"I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking 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 wrote.
GOP Support
Multiple 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 said.
Another senator praised Trump's suggestion on social media, and displayed 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 posted in reply to Trump's proposal. "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 health care they want."
Opposition Response
Opposition senators shared concerned responses to Trump's proposal.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is another calculated attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same failed Republican plan that's been rejected by the public and Congress."
Another senator reacted to the censure of carriers by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? Then I welcome your support for Medicare for All."
Continuing Talks
The Senate went into recess without reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an developing proposal from a handful of moderate Democrats to end the shutdown in return for a future vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans rejected an proposal to restart the government and extend the subsidies for a year.
Another senior Democratic lawmaker continued in arguing that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the future of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because citizens will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a Senate address. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Political Dynamics
None of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that patients would still need to buy plans from the same carriers, or that Republican legislators need the support of several Democrats to reopen the government, and the concept of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Some analysts indicated that the core of such a plan would eliminate the ACA's mandate that carriers cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump returned to his residence and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to eliminate and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that was unsuccessful to garner enough backing in 2017.
