US senators are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to end the standoff appeared to diminish as Republican senators floated a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Growing Impact of Federal Closure
The effect on US citizens from the longest shutdown of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as federal workers went without pay, carriers were forced to cancel flights and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been delayed for 42 million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Golf Course
As Saturday's meeting got started, Republican senators welcomed a proposal made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be substituted by HSA-style accounts.
"My recommendation is to Senate Republicans that the 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 posted.
GOP Support
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the proposal, 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 consumer," one senator said.
Another senator praised Trump's proposal on online platforms, and stood next to a giant blow-up of Trump's post as he addressed on the Senate floor.
"I am drafting the bill right now," a third senator wrote in response to Trump's proposal. "We need to stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it straight to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Democratic Reaction
Opposition senators expressed concerned responses to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same failed Republican plan that's been defeated by voters and Congress."
Another lawmaker responded to the censure of insurance companies by writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the big, bad insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Really? Then I applaud your support for Medicare for All."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate adjourned without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an willingness to an emerging plan from a handful of centrist lawmakers to end the closure in exchange for a later vote on the Obamacare subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the talks among centrists, said that Democrats "need another way ahead" after Republicans rejected an offer to restart the government and continue the subsidies for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator persisted in maintaining that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before negotiating the future of the tax credits.
"Inaction is derelict because people will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator said in a Senate address. "That's what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Political Situation
None of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that consumers 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 eliminating and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several analysts indicated that the core of such a proposal would remove the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
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 version of the proposal that was unsuccessful to secure enough backing in 2017.
