American lawmakers are working through 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 standoff appeared to diminish as Republican senators floated a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
Deepening Impact of Federal Closure
The effect on US citizens from the lengthiest closure of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, carriers were forced to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Proposal from Golf Course
As weekend meeting got under way, Republican senators welcomed a suggestion made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be replaced by HSA-style 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 posted.
Republican Support
Multiple Republican senators praised the plan, which is similar to a replacement for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We will replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the consumer," one senator said.
Another senator commended Trump's proposal on social media, and displayed 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 reply to Trump's proposal. "We need to stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it directly to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Opposition Response
Opposition senators 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 stated. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by voters and Congress."
Another lawmaker responded to the criticism of carriers by writing: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? In that case I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Continuing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an emerging proposal from a small group of moderate Democrats to terminate the closure in exchange for a future vote on the ACA subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans turned down an offer to restart the government and extend the subsidies for a year.
Another senior Democratic lawmaker persisted in arguing that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the payments before discussing the future of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is derelict because people will go bankrupt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."
Political Dynamics
None of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that patients would still need to buy coverage from the same insurance companies, or that Republican lawmakers need the support of eight Democrats to restart the government, and the idea of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several analysts indicated that the core of such a proposal would eliminate the ACA's mandate that carriers cover individuals with existing health issues.
After his golf outing, Trump went back to his residence and doubled down on his demand that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that was unsuccessful to secure enough support in 2017.
