US lawmakers are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began more than a month ago, but hopes for a cross-party deal on how to end the impasse appeared to diminish as Republican senators floated a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Growing Impact of Government Shutdown
The impact on Americans from the lengthiest shutdown of the federal government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, carriers were compelled to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been delayed for 42 million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Golf Course
As weekend session got under way, 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 replaced 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 bad Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE," Trump wrote.
GOP Support
Multiple 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 actually better for the consumer," one senator stated.
Another senator praised 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 suggestion. "We need to stop public funds from going to insurance companies and instead give it directly to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Democratic Response
Opposition senators expressed concerned reactions to Trump's proposal.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is another calculated attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "It's the same failed Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another senator responded to the censure of carriers by posting: "Well, 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 reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an emerging proposal from a handful of moderate Democrats to end the closure in return for a later vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the talks among centrists, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an proposal to restart the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic senator continued in maintaining that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the future of the subsidies.
"Inaction is irresponsible because citizens will go bankrupt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator said in a Senate address. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Political Situation
None of the Republican senators seemed to address 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 observers suggested that the core of such a proposal would remove the ACA's mandate that carriers cover patients with existing health issues.
After his golf outing, Trump returned to his residence and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to eliminate and replace Obamacare with a version of the plan that failed to garner enough backing in 2017.
