American lawmakers are working through 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 impasse appeared to diminish as Republican senators proposed a proposal toxic to Democrats: eliminating the ACA, called Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Government Shutdown
The impact on US citizens from the lengthiest shutdown of the federal government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, carriers were forced to cancel flights and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been delayed for 42 million Americans.
Trump's Proposal from Florida Resort
As weekend session 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 substituted by health savings accounts.
"I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the 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 proposal, which is similar to a replacement for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We're going to replace this failing program with something that is actually better for the patient," one senator stated.
Another senator praised Trump's proposal on social media, and displayed a large print of Trump's post as he addressed on the Senate floor.
"I am drafting the bill right now," a third senator wrote in reply to Trump's proposal. "We need to stop taxpayer money from going to insurance companies and instead give it straight to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Opposition Response
Opposition lawmakers expressed alarmed reactions to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is 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 senator reacted to the censure of carriers by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Seriously? In that case I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Continuing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an developing plan 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 centrists, said that Democrats "need another path forward" after Republicans turned down an proposal to reopen the government and extend the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic lawmaker continued in maintaining that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the payments before discussing the future of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible 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."
Political Situation
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that patients would still need to buy coverage from the same carriers, or that Republican legislators need the support of eight Democrats to reopen the government, and the concept of repealing and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Some observers suggested that the essence of such a proposal would remove the ACA's mandate that carriers cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his resort visit, Trump went back to his residence and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that was unsuccessful to garner enough support in 2017.
