US senators are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the federal closure began over a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to recede as Republican senators floated a proposal toxic to Democrats: eliminating the ACA, called Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Federal Closure
The impact on US citizens from the lengthiest closure of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, airlines were forced to cancel flights and SNAP 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 replaced 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 ineffective Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE," Trump wrote.
GOP Support
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is similar to a alternative for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We're going to replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the patient," one senator said.
Another senator commended Trump's suggestion 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 posted in response to Trump's suggestion. "We need to stop taxpayer money from going to insurance companies and instead give it straight to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Opposition Reaction
Democratic lawmakers shared concerned reactions to Trump's proposal.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another senator responded to the censure of carriers by writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? In that case I welcome your support for Medicare for All."
Ongoing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an emerging plan from a small group of centrist lawmakers to end the closure in exchange for a later vote on the ACA payments.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "need another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an offer to reopen the government and extend the subsidies for a year.
Another leading Democratic lawmaker continued in arguing that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the payments before discussing the long-term of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is derelict because citizens will go bankrupt, people will lose insurance, people will get more ill," the senator said in a Senate address. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Political Situation
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that consumers would still need to buy plans from the same carriers, or that Republican lawmakers need the support of several Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of repealing and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Some observers indicated that the essence of such a proposal would remove the ACA's requirement that carriers cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump returned to his residence and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to eliminate and replace Obamacare with a version of the proposal that was unsuccessful to garner enough support in 2017.
