US senators are working through the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the impasse appeared to diminish as Republican senators floated a plan unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, called Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Government Shutdown
The effect on US citizens from the longest shutdown of the US government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, carriers were forced to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been delayed for forty-two million Americans.
President's Plan from Golf Course
As Saturday's session got under way, Republican 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 substituted by HSA-style 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 Support
Several Republican senators welcomed the proposal, which is similar to a replacement for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the patient," one senator stated.
Another senator praised Trump's suggestion on online platforms, and displayed 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 proposal. "We must stop public funds from going to insurance companies and instead give it straight to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Democratic Reaction
Opposition senators expressed alarmed responses to Trump's plan.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is another cynical attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same failed Republican plan that's been rejected by the public and Congress."
Another senator responded to the criticism of carriers by writing: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? Then I applaud your support for Medicare for All."
Continuing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an emerging proposal from a handful of centrist lawmakers to terminate the shutdown in exchange for a later vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "need another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an offer to restart the government and extend the payments for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator continued in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a one-year extension of the payments before negotiating the long-term of the tax credits.
"Inaction is derelict because people will go bankrupt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator said in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Political Situation
None of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that patients would still need to buy coverage from the same insurance companies, or that Republican lawmakers need the support of several Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of repealing and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several observers suggested that the core of such a proposal would remove the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover individuals with existing health issues.
After his resort visit, Trump went back to his residence and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to eliminate and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that failed to secure enough support in 2017.
