American senators are working through the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but hopes for a cross-party deal on how to resolve the standoff appeared to diminish as GOP senators proposed a proposal toxic to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, known as Obamacare.
Deepening Impact of Federal Closure
The impact on US citizens from the lengthiest shutdown of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, carriers were forced to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been delayed for 42 million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Golf Course
As Saturday's session got under way, GOP senators embraced a suggestion made on online platforms 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 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
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the proposal, which is comparable with a alternative for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We're going to replace this failing program with something that is truly better for the consumer," one senator said.
Another senator commended Trump's suggestion on online platforms, 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 suggestion. "We need to stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it directly to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Opposition Reaction
Democratic senators shared concerned responses to Trump's proposal.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is yet another calculated attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "It's the same failed Republican plan that's been defeated by voters and Congress."
Another senator reacted to the censure of carriers by writing: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the large insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Really? Then I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate went into recess without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an developing plan from a small group of moderate Democrats to terminate the closure in exchange for a later vote on the ACA subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "need another path forward" after Republicans turned down an offer to restart the government and continue the subsidies for a year.
Another leading Democratic lawmaker persisted in maintaining that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the payments before negotiating the long-term of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because citizens will go bankrupt, people will lose insurance, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a Senate address. "That is what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Political Dynamics
None 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 lawmakers need the support of several Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of repealing and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several observers indicated that the core of such a plan would remove the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover individuals with pre-existing conditions.
After his resort visit, Trump returned to his private club and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that failed to garner enough backing in 2017.
