US senators are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to end the impasse appeared to diminish as GOP senators proposed a proposal toxic to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Federal Closure
The effect on US citizens from the longest closure of the US government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers 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 meeting got started, GOP senators embraced a suggestion made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be replaced by HSA-style accounts.
"I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking 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
Several Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is similar to a alternative for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the patient," one senator said.
Another senator commended Trump's suggestion on social media, 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 reply to Trump's proposal. "We must stop taxpayer money from going to insurance companies and instead give it straight to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Opposition Reaction
Opposition lawmakers expressed alarmed responses to Trump's plan.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is yet another cynical attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "This is the same failed Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another senator responded to the criticism of insurance companies by writing: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Really? Then I welcome your support for Medicare for All."
Ongoing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an developing plan from a small group of moderate Democrats to terminate the closure in return for a later vote on the ACA subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an proposal to reopen the government and extend the subsidies for a year.
Another senior Democratic lawmaker continued in arguing that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before negotiating the future of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is derelict because citizens will go bankrupt, people will lose insurance, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Political Dynamics
None of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that patients would still need to buy plans from the same carriers, or that Republican legislators need the support of eight Democrats to reopen the government, and the concept of repealing and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Some analysts suggested that the core of such a proposal would eliminate the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump returned to his private club and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that failed to secure enough backing in 2017.
