American senators are working through the weekend for the first time since the federal closure began more than a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to end the impasse appeared to diminish as Republican senators floated a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
Deepening Impact of Government Shutdown
The impact on US citizens from the longest shutdown of the US government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, carriers were forced to ground planes and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Golf Course
As Saturday's session got under way, GOP senators welcomed a suggestion made on social media 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 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.
GOP Endorsement
Multiple Republican senators praised the proposal, which is similar to a replacement for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We're going to replace this failing program with something that is truly better for the consumer," one senator stated.
Another senator commended Trump's proposal on online platforms, 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 posted in reply to Trump's suggestion. "We must 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."
Democratic Reaction
Opposition senators shared concerned reactions to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is another cynical attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by voters and Congress."
Another senator reacted to the censure of carriers by writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the large insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Really? 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 indicated an openness to an emerging plan from a handful of moderate Democrats to end the shutdown in exchange for a future vote on the ACA subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the talks among centrists, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans turned down an proposal to restart the government and extend the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic senator persisted in arguing 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 bankrupt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a Senate address. "That is what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Partisan Situation
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that consumers would still need to buy coverage from the same carriers, or that Republican lawmakers need the backing of several Democrats to reopen the government, and the concept of repealing and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several analysts suggested that the core of such a proposal would eliminate the ACA's mandate that carriers cover patients with existing health issues.
After his resort visit, Trump went back to his residence and reiterated on his demand that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a version of the plan that was unsuccessful to garner enough backing in 2017.
