US senators are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began more than a month ago, but hopes for a cross-party deal on how to resolve the standoff appeared to recede as Republican senators floated a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: eliminating the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Government Shutdown
The impact on US citizens from the lengthiest shutdown of the federal government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, carriers were compelled to cancel flights and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Proposal from Golf Course
As weekend meeting got under way, Republican senators welcomed a proposal made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be replaced by HSA-style 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 welcomed the plan, which is comparable with a alternative for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We're going to replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the consumer," one senator stated.
Another senator praised Trump's proposal on social media, and displayed a giant blow-up of Trump's post as he spoke on the Senate floor.
"I am drafting the bill right now," a third senator wrote in reply to Trump's proposal. "We must stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it directly to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Democratic Reaction
Democratic senators expressed alarmed reactions to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "It's the same failed Republican plan that's been rejected by voters and Congress."
Another senator reacted to the criticism of carriers by writing: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? Then I applaud your support for Medicare for All."
Ongoing Negotiations
The Senate adjourned without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an emerging proposal from a handful of centrist lawmakers to terminate the shutdown in exchange for a later vote on the ACA subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans turned down an proposal to reopen the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator persisted in maintaining that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the subsidies before discussing the future of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because citizens will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator said in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Political Situation
None of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with 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 reopen the government, and the concept of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several analysts indicated that the core of such a plan would eliminate the ACA's requirement that insurance companies 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 agreement and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a version of the plan that failed to garner enough backing in 2017.
