US senators are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began more than a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to recede as GOP senators floated a plan toxic to Democrats: eliminating the ACA, known as Obamacare.
Deepening Impact of Government Shutdown
The effect on US citizens from the lengthiest closure of the US government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, carriers were forced to ground planes and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been delayed for 42 million Americans.
President's Plan from Florida Resort
As weekend session got under way, Republican senators embraced a proposal made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be substituted by HSA-style accounts.
"I am recommending 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 Support
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is similar to a replacement for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the consumer," one senator said.
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'm writing the bill right now," a third senator posted in response to Trump's proposal. "We must stop taxpayer money from going to insurance companies and instead give it directly to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Democratic Response
Opposition senators expressed alarmed responses to Trump's plan.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is yet another calculated attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "It's the same failed Republican plan that's been rejected by the public and Congress."
Another senator reacted to the criticism of insurance companies by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Seriously? Then I welcome your support for Medicare for All."
Continuing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an willingness to an emerging plan from a handful of centrist lawmakers to terminate the closure in exchange for a later vote on the ACA subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the talks among moderates, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an offer to restart the government and extend the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic senator continued in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a one-year extension of the payments before negotiating the future of the tax credits.
"Doing nothing is derelict because people will go bankrupt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator stated 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 eight Democrats to reopen the government, and the concept of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several observers indicated that the essence of such a proposal would eliminate the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover individuals with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump went back to his private club and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a version of the plan that was unsuccessful to garner enough support in 2017.
