US lawmakers are working through the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began more than a month ago, but expectations for a cross-party deal on how to resolve the standoff appeared to diminish as Republican senators floated a proposal toxic to Democrats: eliminating the ACA, called Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Federal Closure
The impact on US citizens from the lengthiest closure of the federal government in history deepened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, airlines were forced to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
President's Plan from Florida Resort
As Saturday's meeting got started, Republican senators embraced a suggestion made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be replaced by HSA-style accounts.
"My recommendation is 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
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the proposal, which is similar to a replacement for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We're going to replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the consumer," one senator stated.
Another senator commended Trump's proposal on social media, and stood next to 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 response to Trump's proposal. "We need to stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it directly to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Opposition Reaction
Opposition senators expressed alarmed responses to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "It's the same failed Republican plan that's been defeated by voters and Congress."
Another lawmaker responded to the censure of insurance companies by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? In that case I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Continuing Talks
The Senate went into recess without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an emerging proposal from a handful of centrist lawmakers to terminate the closure in return for a future vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the talks among centrists, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans rejected an offer to reopen the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic senator persisted in maintaining that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the future of the tax credits.
"Inaction is derelict because people will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Partisan Dynamics
None of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that consumers would still need to buy plans from the same carriers, or that Republican lawmakers need the support of eight Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of repealing and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several analysts indicated that the core of such a plan would remove the ACA's mandate that carriers cover patients with existing health issues.
After his golf outing, Trump went back to his residence and doubled down on his demand that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a version of the proposal that failed to secure enough backing in 2017.
