American lawmakers are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began more than a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to recede as GOP senators proposed a plan toxic to Democrats: eliminating the ACA, called Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Government Shutdown
The impact on US citizens from the lengthiest closure of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, airlines were compelled to ground planes and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Florida Resort
As weekend meeting got started, Republican senators welcomed a suggestion made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be replaced by health savings accounts.
"I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the 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 posted.
GOP Support
Several Republican senators praised the plan, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We will 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 large print of Trump's post as he addressed on the Senate floor.
"I'm writing the bill right now," a third senator wrote in response to Trump's proposal. "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 medical coverage they want."
Democratic Reaction
Democratic senators 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 reacted to the criticism of carriers by writing: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Seriously? Then I applaud your support for Medicare for All."
Ongoing Negotiations
The Senate adjourned without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an emerging proposal from a handful of centrist lawmakers to terminate the shutdown in exchange for a later vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans rejected an proposal 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 subsidies before negotiating the long-term of the tax credits.
"Inaction is derelict because citizens will go bankrupt, people will lose insurance, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Partisan Situation
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that patients would still need to buy plans from the same insurance companies, or that Republican lawmakers need the backing of eight Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Several observers suggested that the core of such a plan would remove the ACA's requirement that carriers cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
After his golf outing, Trump went back to his private club and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to eliminate and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that was unsuccessful to secure enough backing in 2017.
