American senators are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but expectations for a cross-party deal on how to end the impasse appeared to recede as GOP senators floated a plan unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, known as Obamacare.
Deepening Consequences 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, airlines were forced to cancel flights and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been delayed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Golf Course
As weekend meeting got started, Republican senators embraced a suggestion made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for subsidies 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 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
Several Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We're going to replace this failing program with something that is actually better for the patient," one senator stated.
Another senator praised Trump's suggestion on social media, 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 posted in response to Trump's proposal. "We need to stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it straight to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Democratic Reaction
Democratic lawmakers expressed alarmed responses to Trump's proposal.
"In other words, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "It's the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."
Another lawmaker responded to the censure of carriers by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? In that case I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Ongoing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an developing plan from a handful of centrist lawmakers to end the shutdown in return for a future vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "need another way ahead" after Republicans rejected an offer to reopen the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another senior Democratic lawmaker continued in arguing that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the long-term of the tax credits.
"Doing nothing is irresponsible because people will go bankrupt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a Senate address. "That's what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Political Situation
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that patients would still need to buy plans from the same carriers, or that Republican lawmakers need the backing of eight Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Some analysts indicated that the essence of such a plan would remove the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover individuals with existing health issues.
After his golf outing, Trump returned to his private club and doubled down on his demand that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to eliminate and overhaul Obamacare with a version of the proposal that was unsuccessful to garner enough backing in 2017.
