US senators are meeting during 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 floated a plan unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
Deepening Impact of Federal Closure
The impact on Americans from the longest closure of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, carriers were compelled to cancel flights and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Florida Resort
As Saturday's session got started, Republican senators embraced a suggestion made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be replaced by HSA-style accounts.
"I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to profit-driven 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 put forward in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the patient," one senator stated.
Another senator commended Trump's proposal on social media, and displayed a giant blow-up of Trump's post as he addressed on the Senate floor.
"I'm writing the bill right now," a third senator posted in reply to Trump's suggestion. "We need to stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it straight to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Democratic Reaction
Democratic lawmakers shared alarmed reactions to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is another calculated attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "This is the same failed Republican plan that's been defeated by voters and Congress."
Another lawmaker reacted 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. Really? In that case I welcome your support for Medicare for All."
Ongoing Negotiations
The Senate adjourned without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an developing proposal from a handful of centrist lawmakers to end the shutdown in exchange for a future vote on the Obamacare subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "need another path forward" after Republicans rejected an offer to reopen the government and extend the subsidies for a year.
Another leading Democratic lawmaker continued in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the future of the subsidies.
"Inaction is derelict because people will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator said in a Senate address. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Partisan Situation
None 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 lawmakers need the backing of several Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of repealing and substituting Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Several observers suggested that the core of such a plan would remove the ACA's mandate that carriers cover individuals with pre-existing conditions.
After his resort visit, Trump returned to his residence and reiterated on his demand that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to eliminate and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that was unsuccessful to secure enough support in 2017.
