American lawmakers are working through the weekend for the first time since the federal closure began over a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to recede as GOP senators floated a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, called Obamacare.
Growing Impact of Government Shutdown
The effect on Americans from the lengthiest shutdown of the federal government in history deepened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, carriers were compelled to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Golf Course
As Saturday's meeting got under way, Republican senators welcomed a proposal made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be replaced by health savings accounts.
"My recommendation is 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 posted.
GOP Support
Multiple 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 consumer," one senator stated.
Another senator commended Trump's proposal on online platforms, and displayed a giant blow-up of Trump's post as he addressed on the Senate floor.
"I'm writing the bill right now," a third senator posted in response to Trump's suggestion. "We must stop public funds 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 lawmakers shared alarmed responses to Trump's proposal.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is another calculated attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "It's the same failed Republican plan that's been rejected by voters and Congress."
Another lawmaker responded to the censure of carriers by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Really? In that case I welcome your support for universal healthcare."
Continuing Talks
The Senate went into recess without reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an willingness to an emerging plan from a handful of centrist lawmakers to end the closure in return for a later vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans rejected an offer to restart the government and continue the subsidies for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator continued in arguing that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the future of the subsidies.
"Inaction is irresponsible because citizens 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 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 reopen the government, and the concept of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Some analysts indicated that the essence of such a plan would remove the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover individuals with existing health issues.
After his golf outing, Trump went back to his residence and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that was unsuccessful to garner enough support in 2017.
