US lawmakers are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the federal closure began over a month ago, but expectations for a cross-party deal on how to resolve the impasse appeared to recede as Republican senators floated a plan unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, known as Obamacare.
Growing Impact of Federal Closure
The effect on US citizens from the longest closure of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went without pay, airlines were compelled to ground planes and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
President's Proposal from Florida Resort
As weekend session got started, GOP senators welcomed a proposal 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 bad Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE," Trump wrote.
Republican Support
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the proposal, which is comparable with a alternative for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We're going to replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the patient," one senator stated.
Another senator commended Trump's suggestion on social media, and displayed 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 posted in response to Trump's suggestion. "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."
Democratic Response
Democratic lawmakers expressed alarmed responses to Trump's proposal.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is yet another calculated attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by voters and Congress."
Another lawmaker reacted to the criticism of carriers by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? Then I applaud your support for Medicare for All."
Ongoing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an developing plan from a handful of centrist lawmakers to terminate the shutdown in return for a future vote on the Obamacare subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "need another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an offer to reopen the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another leading Democratic lawmaker continued in maintaining that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the payments before discussing the long-term of the tax credits.
"Inaction is derelict because citizens will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Partisan Situation
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that patients would still need to buy coverage from the same carriers, or that Republican lawmakers need the support of several Democrats to restart the government, and the idea of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with HSAs is improbable to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Several observers suggested that the essence of such a proposal would remove the ACA's requirement that carriers cover individuals with existing health issues.
After his golf outing, Trump went back to his private club and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to eliminate and replace Obamacare with a version of the proposal that failed to garner enough backing in 2017.
