American senators are working through the weekend for the first time since the federal closure began over a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to diminish as Republican senators floated a plan unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Federal Closure
The effect on Americans from the lengthiest closure of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went without pay, airlines were compelled to ground planes 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, GOP senators embraced a suggestion made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be substituted 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 ineffective Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE," Trump posted.
Republican Support
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is comparable with a alternative for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We're going to replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the consumer," one senator stated.
Another senator commended Trump's proposal on online platforms, and stood next to a large print of Trump's post as he spoke on the Senate floor.
"I'm writing the bill right now," a third senator wrote in response to Trump's proposal. "We must 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 senators expressed concerned 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 commented. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been rejected by the public and Congress."
Another senator reacted to the criticism of carriers 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."
Continuing Talks
The Senate adjourned without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an emerging plan from a small group of moderate Democrats to end the closure in exchange for a later vote on the Obamacare subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the talks among moderates, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans rejected an offer to reopen the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another leading Democratic lawmaker continued in maintaining that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the subsidies before discussing the long-term of the tax credits.
"Inaction is irresponsible because citizens will go bankrupt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a Senate address. "That's what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Partisan Dynamics
Not one 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 legislators need the support of several Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with HSAs is improbable to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Several analysts indicated that the essence of such a proposal would remove the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump returned to his residence and doubled down on his demand that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to eliminate and overhaul Obamacare with a version of the proposal that was unsuccessful to garner enough support in 2017.
