American senators are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but hopes for a cross-party deal on how to resolve the standoff appeared to recede as GOP senators proposed a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: eliminating the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Deepening Impact of Federal Closure
The impact on Americans from the longest shutdown of the US government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, carriers were forced to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
President's Proposal from Golf Course
As weekend session got started, Republican senators welcomed a suggestion 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.
"My recommendation is to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to profit-driven 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.
Republican Endorsement
Several Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is comparable with a alternative for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the patient," one senator stated.
Another senator praised Trump's proposal on online platforms, and stood next to a giant blow-up of Trump's post as he addressed on the Senate floor.
"I am drafting the bill right now," a third senator wrote in response to Trump's proposal. "We need to stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it directly to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Opposition Reaction
Democratic lawmakers expressed concerned responses to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is yet another cynical attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "It's the same failed Republican plan that's been rejected by the public and Congress."
Another senator responded to the censure of carriers by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the large insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Really? Then I applaud your support for Medicare for All."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate went into recess without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an developing plan from a handful of moderate Democrats to terminate the shutdown in return for a future vote on the ACA payments.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an proposal to restart the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator continued in arguing that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before negotiating the long-term of the subsidies.
"Inaction is derelict because people will go bankrupt, people will become uninsured, people will get sicker," the senator said in a Senate address. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
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 insurance companies, or that Republican legislators need the support of several Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Several observers indicated that the core of such a plan would eliminate the ACA's requirement that carriers cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump returned to his private club and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to eliminate and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that was unsuccessful to garner enough backing in 2017.
