American senators are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the federal closure began more than a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to end the impasse appeared to diminish as GOP senators proposed a plan unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Government Shutdown
The effect on Americans from the longest shutdown of the federal government in history deepened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, carriers were forced to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
President's Proposal from Florida Resort
As Saturday's 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 replaced by health savings accounts.
"I am recommending 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.
GOP Endorsement
Several Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is similar to a alternative 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 proposal on online platforms, and displayed a giant blow-up 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 Reaction
Democratic senators expressed alarmed reactions to Trump's plan.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is yet another cynical attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another lawmaker reacted to the censure of carriers by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? Then I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Negotiations
The Senate adjourned without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an emerging proposal from a small group of moderate Democrats to end the closure in return for a future vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "need another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an proposal to restart the government and extend the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic senator persisted in arguing that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the subsidies before negotiating the future of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because people will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a Senate address. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Political Situation
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 backing of eight Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of repealing and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Some observers suggested that the essence of such a proposal would eliminate the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover patients with existing health issues.
After his golf outing, Trump returned to his private club 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 garner enough support in 2017.
