American lawmakers are working through the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began more than a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the impasse appeared to recede as GOP senators proposed a plan toxic to Democrats: eliminating the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.
Deepening Consequences of Federal Closure
The impact on Americans from the longest shutdown of the federal government in history deepened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, carriers were compelled to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.
President's Proposal from Golf Course
As Saturday's meeting got under way, GOP senators embraced a suggestion made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be substituted by health savings accounts.
"I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of 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 wrote.
GOP Support
Multiple Republican senators praised the plan, which is similar to a alternative for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We will replace this failing program with something that is truly better for the consumer," 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 reply to Trump's suggestion. "We must stop public funds 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 senators shared alarmed responses to Trump's plan.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is yet another cynical attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same failed Republican plan that's been rejected by the public and Congress."
Another lawmaker reacted to the censure of carriers by writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? In that case I welcome your support for universal healthcare."
Continuing Talks
The Senate went into recess without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an emerging proposal from a small group of moderate Democrats to end the shutdown in exchange for a later vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans rejected an offer to reopen the government and extend the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic lawmaker continued in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before discussing the future of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is derelict because citizens will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator said in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Partisan Situation
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that consumers would still need to buy plans from the same carriers, or that Republican lawmakers need the backing of several Democrats to restart the government, and the idea of repealing and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several observers suggested that the core of such a plan would eliminate the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump returned to his residence and doubled down on his demand that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to eliminate and replace Obamacare with a version of the proposal that failed to secure enough backing in 2017.
