American senators are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to recede as Republican senators floated a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: eliminating the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Federal Closure
The effect on Americans from the longest closure of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went without pay, carriers were compelled to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been delayed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Florida Resort
As weekend meeting got under way, GOP senators embraced a suggestion made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be replaced by HSA-style accounts.
"I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the 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 wrote.
Republican Support
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is similar to a alternative for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We're going to replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the consumer," one senator said.
Another senator praised Trump's proposal on social media, and displayed 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 taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it straight to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Democratic Response
Opposition lawmakers expressed concerned reactions to Trump's plan.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is yet another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same failed Republican plan that's been rejected by the public and Congress."
Another lawmaker reacted to the criticism of carriers by writing: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? In that case I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Continuing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an developing proposal from a small group of moderate Democrats to end the closure in return for a later vote on the ACA payments.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "need another way ahead" after Republicans rejected an proposal to reopen the government and extend the subsidies for a year.
Another leading Democratic lawmaker continued in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a one-year extension of the subsidies before discussing the future of the subsidies.
"Inaction is derelict because citizens will go bankrupt, people will lose insurance, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a Senate address. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Partisan Dynamics
None of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that consumers would still need to buy coverage from the same insurance companies, or that Republican legislators need the backing of several Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Some analysts suggested that the core of such a proposal would remove the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover individuals with existing health issues.
After his resort visit, Trump returned to his private club and reiterated on his demand that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that was unsuccessful to secure enough support in 2017.
