American senators are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to recede as Republican senators floated a plan unacceptable to Democrats: eliminating the ACA, known as Obamacare.
Deepening Impact of Government Shutdown
The impact on US citizens from the lengthiest shutdown of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, carriers were forced to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been delayed for forty-two million Americans.
President's Proposal from Golf Course
As weekend session got started, Republican senators embraced a proposal made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be substituted by HSA-style accounts.
"I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Billions of Dollars currently being sent to profit-driven 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.
Republican Support
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the plan, 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 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 am drafting the bill right now," a third senator posted in response to Trump's suggestion. "We must stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it straight to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Democratic Response
Democratic lawmakers expressed alarmed reactions to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "It's the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another senator reacted to the censure of carriers by writing: "Well, 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 Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an emerging plan from a small group of moderate Democrats to end the shutdown in exchange for a future vote on the ACA payments.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "need another way ahead" after Republicans rejected an proposal to restart the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic senator persisted in arguing that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the payments before discussing the long-term of the subsidies.
"Inaction is derelict because people will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get more ill," the senator said in a floor speech. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Partisan Dynamics
None of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that patients 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 idea of repealing and substituting Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several analysts indicated that the essence of such a plan would remove the ACA's requirement that carriers cover individuals with existing health issues.
After his golf outing, Trump returned to his residence and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that was unsuccessful to garner enough support in 2017.
