American senators are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the impasse appeared to diminish as Republican senators floated a plan toxic to Democrats: eliminating the ACA, called Obamacare.
Growing Impact of Federal Closure
The effect on US citizens from the lengthiest closure 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 postponed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Proposal from Golf Course
As weekend meeting got under way, GOP senators welcomed a suggestion made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be replaced 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 wrote.
GOP Support
Several Republican senators welcomed 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 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 addressed on the Senate floor.
"I'm writing the bill right now," a third senator wrote in reply to Trump's proposal. "We must stop public funds from going to carriers and instead give it straight to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Opposition Reaction
Opposition senators shared alarmed responses to Trump's proposal.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is yet another calculated attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by voters 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? Then I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate went into recess without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an willingness to an emerging plan from a handful of moderate Democrats to terminate the shutdown in return for a later vote on the Obamacare subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the talks 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 senior Democratic lawmaker persisted in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the future of the tax credits.
"Doing nothing is derelict because people will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get more ill," the senator said in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Partisan Situation
None of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that patients would still need to buy coverage from the same carriers, or that Republican legislators need the backing of eight Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of repealing and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Some observers indicated that the core of such a plan would eliminate the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump went back to his private club and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to eliminate and replace Obamacare with a version of the plan that failed to garner enough support in 2017.
