American senators are working through 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 diminish as GOP senators floated a proposal toxic to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called 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 federal workers went without pay, airlines were forced to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been delayed for 42 million Americans.
President's Proposal from Golf Course
As weekend meeting got under way, 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 replaced by health savings 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 bad Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE," Trump wrote.
GOP Endorsement
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the proposal, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the consumer," one senator said.
Another senator commended Trump's proposal 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 wrote in response to Trump's suggestion. "We must stop taxpayer money from going to insurance companies and instead give it directly to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Opposition Response
Opposition lawmakers shared concerned responses to Trump's plan.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is yet another cynical attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by voters and Congress."
Another lawmaker reacted to the censure of carriers by writing: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? Then I welcome your support for Medicare for All."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate adjourned without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an emerging plan from a handful of centrist lawmakers to end the shutdown in exchange for a future vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the talks among centrists, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans rejected an offer to reopen the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator continued in maintaining that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the payments before discussing the long-term of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because people will go bankrupt, people will become uninsured, people will get sicker," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Political Situation
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that patients would still need to buy coverage from the same insurance companies, or that Republican legislators need the backing of eight Democrats to reopen the government, and the concept of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Some observers suggested that the essence of such a proposal would eliminate the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover individuals with pre-existing conditions.
After his resort visit, Trump went back to his private club and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to eliminate and replace Obamacare with a version of the plan that was unsuccessful to secure enough backing in 2017.
