American senators are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the federal closure 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 proposed a proposal toxic to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Growing Impact of Government Shutdown
The effect on Americans from the longest shutdown of the federal government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, airlines were compelled to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
President's Proposal from Florida Resort
As weekend session got under way, Republican senators embraced a suggestion made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be substituted by health savings 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 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
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 truly better for the patient," one senator said.
Another senator praised 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 posted in reply to Trump's suggestion. "We need to stop taxpayer money from going to insurance companies and instead give it straight to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Opposition Reaction
Opposition lawmakers expressed alarmed reactions to Trump's proposal.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is yet another cynical attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "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 writing: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the large insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Seriously? Then I welcome your support for Medicare for All."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate went into recess without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an emerging plan from a handful of moderate Democrats to terminate the closure in return for a future vote on the Obamacare subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "need another path forward" after Republicans turned down an proposal to restart the government and continue the subsidies for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator persisted in arguing that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the payments before discussing the future of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because people will go bankrupt, people will become uninsured, people will get sicker," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Political Dynamics
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that consumers would still need to buy plans from the same carriers, or that Republican legislators need the backing of several Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Some analysts suggested that the essence of such a proposal would remove the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover patients with existing health issues.
After his resort visit, Trump returned to his residence and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a version of the plan that failed to garner enough backing in 2017.
