American lawmakers 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 end the impasse appeared to recede as GOP senators proposed a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, called Obamacare.
Deepening Consequences of Federal Closure
The impact on US citizens from the lengthiest closure of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, carriers were forced to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.
President's Plan from Florida Resort
As Saturday's meeting got under way, GOP senators embraced a proposal made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be substituted by health savings 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 ineffective Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE," Trump posted.
Republican Support
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the consumer," one senator stated.
Another senator praised Trump's proposal on online platforms, and displayed a large print of Trump's post as he addressed on the Senate floor.
"I'm writing the bill right now," a third senator posted in reply to Trump's proposal. "We must stop taxpayer money from going to insurance companies and instead give it straight to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Opposition Reaction
Democratic senators expressed concerned responses to Trump's proposal.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is another cynical attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "It's the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by voters and Congress."
Another lawmaker responded to the censure of carriers by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? In that case I applaud your support for Medicare for All."
Continuing Talks
The Senate adjourned without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an willingness to an developing proposal from a handful of centrist lawmakers to end the closure in exchange for a future vote on the ACA subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the talks among moderates, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an offer to restart the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic senator persisted in maintaining that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the payments before negotiating the long-term of the tax credits.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because people will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator said in a floor speech. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Partisan Dynamics
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that patients would still need to buy plans from the same carriers, or that Republican lawmakers need the backing of several Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Several analysts indicated 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 residence and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a version of the proposal that was unsuccessful to garner enough backing in 2017.
