US lawmakers are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the federal closure began over a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to recede as Republican senators proposed a plan unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, called Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Federal Closure
The impact on Americans from the lengthiest closure of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, carriers were forced to cancel flights and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.
Trump's Proposal from Florida Resort
As Saturday's meeting got under way, GOP senators welcomed 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.
"My recommendation is to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to profit-driven 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 posted.
GOP Endorsement
Several Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We're going to replace this failing program with something that is truly better for the consumer," one senator stated.
Another senator commended Trump's proposal on online platforms, and stood next to a giant blow-up of Trump's post as he addressed on the Senate floor.
"I am drafting 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
Democratic senators shared concerned responses to Trump's proposal.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "It's the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another lawmaker reacted to the censure of carriers by writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Seriously? In that case I welcome your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Negotiations
The Senate adjourned without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an emerging proposal from a handful of centrist lawmakers to end the shutdown in return for a future vote on the Obamacare subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the talks among centrists, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans turned down an proposal to reopen the government and continue the subsidies for a year.
Another senior Democratic senator persisted in maintaining that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the subsidies before discussing the long-term of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is derelict because people will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get sicker," the senator said in a Senate address. "That is what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Political Dynamics
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that consumers would still need to buy coverage from the same carriers, or that Republican legislators need the backing of several Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of repealing and replacing 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 pre-existing conditions.
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 eliminate and replace Obamacare with a version of the proposal that failed to garner enough support in 2017.
