US senators are working through the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began more than a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to recede as GOP senators floated a plan unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
Growing Impact of Government Shutdown
The impact on US citizens from the longest closure of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went without pay, airlines were forced to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Golf Course
As Saturday's meeting got started, Republican senators welcomed a proposal made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be replaced by HSA-style accounts.
"My recommendation is 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 Support
Several Republican senators praised the plan, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We're going to replace this failing program with something that is truly better for the patient," one senator said.
Another senator commended Trump's suggestion on online platforms, and displayed a large print of Trump's post as he spoke on the Senate floor.
"I am drafting the bill right now," a third senator posted in reply to Trump's proposal. "We must stop public funds from going to insurance companies and instead give it straight to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Democratic Reaction
Opposition senators expressed concerned reactions to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is another cynical 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 insurance companies by writing: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? Then I welcome your support for Medicare for All."
Continuing Negotiations
The Senate adjourned without reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an emerging proposal from a handful of moderate Democrats to terminate the shutdown in return for a future vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the talks among centrists, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans turned down an proposal to reopen the government and extend the subsidies for a year.
Another senior Democratic lawmaker continued in arguing that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the long-term of the subsidies.
"Inaction is derelict because citizens will go bankrupt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Political Situation
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that patients would still need to buy plans 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 unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Some analysts suggested that the core of such a proposal would remove the ACA's requirement that carriers cover individuals with existing health issues.
After his golf outing, Trump returned to his private club and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to eliminate and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that failed to garner enough support in 2017.
