American senators are working through the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but expectations for a cross-party deal on how to resolve the impasse appeared to recede as Republican senators proposed a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Federal Closure
The impact on US citizens from the longest closure of the federal government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, airlines were compelled to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.
President's Plan from Florida Resort
As Saturday's session got started, Republican senators embraced a proposal made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be substituted by HSA-style accounts.
"I am recommending 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 posted.
GOP Endorsement
Multiple Republican senators praised the plan, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We're going to replace this failing program with something that is truly better for the patient," one senator said.
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 am drafting the bill right now," a third senator wrote in reply to Trump's proposal. "We need to stop public funds 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
Democratic senators expressed alarmed responses to Trump's proposal.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is yet another calculated attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same failed Republican plan that's been rejected by voters and Congress."
Another senator responded to the criticism of insurance companies by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Seriously? In that case I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate adjourned without reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an emerging proposal from a handful of centrist lawmakers to terminate the closure in exchange for a future vote on the ACA payments.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the talks among centrists, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans rejected an proposal to restart the government and continue the subsidies for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator persisted in arguing that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before negotiating the future of the tax credits.
"Inaction is derelict because citizens will go bankrupt, people will become uninsured, people will get sicker," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Partisan 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 legislators need the backing of several Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of repealing and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Several observers suggested that the core of such a proposal would remove the ACA's mandate that carriers cover individuals 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 plan that failed to secure enough backing in 2017.
