US senators are working through the weekend for the initial time since the federal closure began more than a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to end the standoff appeared to recede as GOP senators floated a plan unacceptable to Democrats: eliminating the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Deepening Consequences of Federal Closure
The effect on US citizens from the longest closure of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, airlines were compelled to ground planes and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been delayed for 42 million Americans.
President's Plan from Golf Course
As weekend meeting got under way, Republican senators welcomed a proposal made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be substituted by HSA-style accounts.
"I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to profit-driven 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 wrote.
Republican Endorsement
Multiple 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 truly better for the patient," one senator said.
Another senator commended 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 posted in reply to Trump's suggestion. "We need to stop public funds from going to insurance companies 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 reactions 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 failed Republican plan that's been defeated by voters and Congress."
Another senator responded to the censure of insurance companies by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? In that case I welcome your support for universal healthcare."
Continuing Talks
The Senate went into recess without reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an developing proposal from a handful of centrist lawmakers to end the closure in exchange for a future vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "need another path forward" after Republicans turned down an offer to restart the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic lawmaker persisted in maintaining that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the payments before discussing the long-term of the tax credits.
"Doing nothing is derelict because citizens will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get sicker," the senator said in a Senate address. "That's what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Political Situation
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that patients would still need to buy plans from the same insurance companies, or that Republican lawmakers need the backing of several Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of repealing and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several observers indicated that the essence of such a plan would remove the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump went back to his residence and doubled down on his demand that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a version of the proposal that was unsuccessful to secure enough backing in 2017.
