American lawmakers are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the federal closure began more than a month ago, but hopes for a cross-party deal on how to resolve the impasse appeared to recede as GOP senators proposed a plan unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, known as Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Government Shutdown
The impact on US citizens from the longest closure of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, airlines were compelled to cancel flights and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
President's Proposal from Golf Course
As weekend meeting got started, Republican senators embraced a proposal made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort 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 ineffective Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE," Trump posted.
Republican Endorsement
Several Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We're going to replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the patient," one senator said.
Another senator commended Trump's suggestion on online platforms, and stood next to a giant blow-up 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 taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it directly to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Opposition Reaction
Democratic lawmakers shared concerned responses to Trump's plan.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is yet another cynical attempt to eliminate 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 dislike how the big, bad insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Really? In that case I welcome your support for universal healthcare."
Continuing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an willingness to an emerging plan from a small group of centrist lawmakers to end the shutdown in return for a future vote on the Obamacare subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the talks among moderates, said that Democrats "need another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an offer to restart the government and continue the subsidies for a year.
Another senior Democratic lawmaker continued in arguing that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the payments before discussing the long-term of the tax credits.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because people will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get sicker," the senator said in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Partisan Dynamics
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 backing of several Democrats to restart the government, and the idea of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Some analysts suggested that the core of such a plan would remove the ACA's mandate that carriers cover patients with existing health issues.
After his resort visit, Trump went back to his private club and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to eliminate and replace Obamacare with a version of the plan that was unsuccessful to secure enough backing in 2017.
