US lawmakers are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began more than a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to end the standoff appeared to diminish as Republican 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 lengthiest shutdown of the US government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, airlines were compelled to cancel flights and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.
Trump's Proposal from Florida Resort
As Saturday's session got under way, Republican senators embraced a suggestion made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be replaced 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 posted.
GOP Support
Multiple Republican senators praised the proposal, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the consumer," one senator said.
Another senator praised Trump's suggestion on social media, and stood next to a large print of Trump's post as he addressed on the Senate floor.
"I'm writing the bill right now," a third senator wrote in reply to Trump's proposal. "We must stop public funds from going to insurance companies and instead give it directly to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Opposition Reaction
Democratic senators expressed alarmed responses to Trump's proposal.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is another cynical attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "This is the same failed Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another lawmaker responded to the censure of carriers by writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? In that case I applaud your support for Medicare for All."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate adjourned without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an developing plan from a small group of centrist lawmakers to terminate the closure in return for a future vote on the ACA payments.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the talks among moderates, said that Democrats "need another path forward" after Republicans turned down an offer to reopen the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator persisted in arguing that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the subsidies before discussing the future of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is derelict because citizens 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 Dynamics
Not one 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 legislators need the backing of several Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several analysts suggested that the core of such a plan would eliminate the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his resort visit, Trump went back to his residence and reiterated on his demand that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a version of the plan that was unsuccessful to secure enough backing in 2017.
