US lawmakers are working through the weekend for the initial time since the federal closure began over a month ago, but expectations for a cross-party deal on how to end the standoff appeared to recede as GOP senators proposed a plan unacceptable to Democrats: eliminating the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
Deepening Impact of Government Shutdown
The effect on US citizens from the lengthiest shutdown of the federal government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, airlines were compelled to cancel flights and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been delayed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Florida Resort
As Saturday's session got started, Republican senators embraced a proposal made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for government payments 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.
Republican Endorsement
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the proposal, which is comparable with a alternative for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the patient," one senator stated.
Another senator praised Trump's suggestion on online platforms, and stood next to 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 reply to Trump's suggestion. "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."
Opposition Response
Democratic senators shared alarmed responses to Trump's proposal.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is another cynical attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been rejected by voters and Congress."
Another lawmaker responded 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. Seriously? In that case I welcome your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate went into recess without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an developing plan from a small group of centrist lawmakers to end the closure in exchange for a future vote on the ACA payments.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an proposal to restart the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic lawmaker continued in arguing that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the future of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because citizens will go bankrupt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator said in a Senate address. "That is what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Partisan Situation
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that consumers would still need to buy plans from the same insurance companies, or that Republican legislators need the backing of eight Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Some observers suggested that the core of such a plan would eliminate the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover individuals with existing health issues.
After his resort visit, Trump returned to his private club and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that failed to garner enough support in 2017.
