American lawmakers are working through 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 resolve the standoff appeared to diminish as GOP senators floated a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
Deepening Consequences of Government Shutdown
The impact on Americans from the longest closure of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, airlines were compelled to cancel flights and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
President's Plan from Florida Resort
As weekend session got started, Republican senators embraced a proposal made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be substituted by health savings 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 wrote.
GOP Endorsement
Several Republican senators praised the proposal, which is comparable with a alternative for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the patient," one senator said.
Another senator praised 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 wrote in reply to Trump's proposal. "We need to stop public funds from going to carriers and instead give it directly to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Democratic Reaction
Democratic lawmakers shared alarmed reactions to Trump's plan.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is yet another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "It's the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been rejected by the public and Congress."
Another lawmaker reacted to the criticism of carriers by writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? Then I applaud your support for Medicare for All."
Ongoing Negotiations
The Senate adjourned without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an emerging proposal from a handful of centrist lawmakers to terminate the shutdown in exchange for a future vote on the Obamacare subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the talks 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 lawmaker persisted in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the payments before discussing the future of the tax credits.
"Inaction is irresponsible because people will go bankrupt, people will become uninsured, people will get sicker," the senator said in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Partisan Situation
None of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that consumers would still need to buy plans from the same insurance companies, or that Republican lawmakers need the backing of eight Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several observers suggested that the essence of such a plan would eliminate the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover individuals with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump went back to his private club and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a version of the plan that failed to secure enough backing in 2017.
