US 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 end the impasse appeared to diminish as GOP senators floated a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Deepening Consequences of Government Shutdown
The effect on Americans from the longest shutdown of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, airlines were compelled to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been delayed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Golf Course
As Saturday's meeting got under way, Republican senators embraced a proposal made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be substituted by health savings accounts.
"My recommendation is to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of 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 alternative for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the patient," one senator stated.
Another senator commended Trump's suggestion on social media, and displayed a large print of Trump's post as he spoke 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 HSA-style accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Democratic Response
Opposition lawmakers expressed alarmed reactions to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is yet another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by voters and Congress."
Another senator reacted to the censure of insurance companies by writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? Then I welcome your support for Medicare for All."
Continuing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an willingness to an developing plan from a small group of centrist lawmakers to terminate the closure in return for a future vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans rejected an proposal to restart the government and extend the subsidies for a year.
Another senior Democratic lawmaker persisted in arguing that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before discussing the long-term of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is derelict because people will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator said in a Senate address. "That's what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Partisan Dynamics
None of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that patients would still need to buy coverage from the same insurance companies, or that Republican legislators need the support of several Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of repealing and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several observers suggested that the core of such a plan would remove the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover individuals with existing health issues.
After his resort visit, Trump returned to his private club and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a version of the plan that failed to garner enough support in 2017.
