American lawmakers are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the federal closure began more than a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to recede as Republican senators floated a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, called Obamacare.
Deepening Impact of Federal Closure
The effect on Americans from the lengthiest shutdown of the US government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, carriers were compelled to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
President's Proposal from Florida Resort
As Saturday's meeting got started, Republican senators embraced a suggestion made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be substituted 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 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
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the proposal, which is comparable with a alternative for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We will replace this failing program with something that is truly better for the consumer," one senator stated.
Another senator praised Trump's suggestion on social media, and displayed a large print of Trump's post as he spoke 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 carriers and instead give it straight to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Opposition Response
Democratic senators expressed alarmed reactions to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is another calculated 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 senator responded to the criticism of carriers by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? In that case I applaud your support for Medicare for All."
Ongoing Talks
The Senate adjourned without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an willingness to an emerging plan from a handful of centrist lawmakers to end the closure in exchange for a later vote on the Obamacare subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the talks among moderates, said that Democrats "need another path forward" after Republicans rejected an offer to restart the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator persisted in arguing that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the future of the tax credits.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because citizens will go bankrupt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator stated in a Senate address. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Partisan Dynamics
None of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that consumers would still need to buy coverage from the same insurance companies, or that Republican lawmakers need the backing of eight Democrats to restart the government, and the idea of repealing and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Some analysts suggested that the core of such a plan would eliminate the ACA's mandate that carriers cover individuals with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump went back to his private club 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 was unsuccessful to secure enough backing in 2017.
