American lawmakers are working through the weekend for the first time since the federal closure began more than a month ago, but expectations for a cross-party deal on how to resolve the standoff appeared to recede as Republican senators floated a proposal toxic to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Deepening Impact of Federal Closure
The impact on US citizens from the lengthiest shutdown of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, carriers were forced to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been delayed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Florida Resort
As weekend session got started, Republican senators embraced a suggestion made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for government payments 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.
Republican Endorsement
Several Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is comparable with a alternative 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 praised Trump's suggestion on social media, 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 wrote in reply to Trump's suggestion. "We must stop public funds from going to insurance companies and instead give it directly to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Opposition Response
Democratic senators shared concerned reactions to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is another cynical attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "This is the same failed Republican plan that's been rejected by the public and Congress."
Another lawmaker reacted to the censure of carriers by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? In that case I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Continuing Negotiations
The Senate adjourned without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an willingness to an developing proposal from a small group of moderate Democrats to end the shutdown in return for a future vote on the ACA subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the talks among moderates, said that Democrats "need another path forward" after Republicans turned down an offer to reopen the government and extend the payments for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator continued in maintaining that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the payments before negotiating the future of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is derelict because people will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator said in a Senate address. "That is what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Partisan Dynamics
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that consumers would still need to buy plans from the same carriers, or that Republican lawmakers need the backing of eight Democrats to restart the government, and the idea of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Some observers suggested that the core of such a proposal would eliminate the ACA's mandate that carriers cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump went back to his residence and doubled down on his demand that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a version of the plan that failed to garner enough support in 2017.
