American senators are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the federal closure began over a month ago, but expectations for a cross-party deal on how to resolve the impasse appeared to recede as Republican senators floated a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Federal Closure
The impact on Americans from the lengthiest shutdown of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, carriers were forced to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been delayed for forty-two million Americans.
President's Plan from Florida Resort
As Saturday's session got started, GOP senators embraced a proposal made on social media 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 Hundreds of 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 wrote.
GOP Endorsement
Multiple Republican senators praised the plan, which is similar to a replacement for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the consumer," 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 spoke on the Senate floor.
"I am drafting the bill right now," a third senator wrote in reply to Trump's proposal. "We must stop taxpayer money 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 Response
Democratic senators expressed alarmed reactions to Trump's plan.
"In other words, 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 defeated by the public and Congress."
Another senator responded to the censure of carriers by writing: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Really? Then I welcome your support for universal healthcare."
Continuing Talks
The Senate adjourned without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an developing plan from a small group of moderate Democrats to end the shutdown in return for a later vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans turned down an offer to reopen the government and extend the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic senator persisted in arguing that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the payments before discussing the long-term of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is derelict because people will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Political Situation
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that patients would still need to buy coverage from the same carriers, or that Republican legislators need the backing of eight Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Some analysts 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 private club and doubled down on his demand that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that was unsuccessful to secure enough backing in 2017.
