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 end the impasse appeared to diminish as Republican senators proposed a plan toxic to Democrats: eliminating the ACA, called Obamacare.
Growing Impact of Federal Closure
The impact on Americans from the longest closure of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, airlines were forced to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Florida Resort
As weekend meeting got under way, Republican senators embraced a proposal made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be replaced 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 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 proposal, which is comparable with a alternative for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We will replace this failing program with something that is truly better for the consumer," one senator said.
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'm writing the bill right now," a third senator posted in response to Trump's proposal. "We must stop public funds from going to insurance companies and instead give it directly to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Democratic Response
Opposition senators expressed 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 repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been rejected by the public and Congress."
Another lawmaker reacted to the censure of insurance companies by writing: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the big, bad insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Seriously? In that case I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate went into recess without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an emerging plan from a handful of centrist lawmakers to end the closure in exchange for a future vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "need another path forward" after Republicans turned down an proposal to reopen the government and extend the payments for a year.
Another leading Democratic lawmaker continued in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before discussing the future of the tax credits.
"Inaction is derelict because people will go bankrupt, 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."
Political Situation
None of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that consumers would still need to buy coverage from the same carriers, or that Republican lawmakers need the support of eight Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several analysts suggested that the core of such a plan would remove the ACA's mandate that carriers cover individuals with existing health issues.
After his golf outing, Trump returned to his private club and doubled down on his demand that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to eliminate and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that failed to garner enough support in 2017.
