US lawmakers are meeting during 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 end the standoff appeared to diminish as GOP senators proposed a plan unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, called Obamacare.
Deepening Impact of Federal Closure
The effect on US citizens from the lengthiest closure of the US government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, carriers were forced to ground planes and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.
Trump's Proposal from Florida Resort
As weekend meeting got under way, 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 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 posted.
Republican Support
Several Republican senators praised the plan, which is comparable with a alternative for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We're going to replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the patient," one senator said.
Another senator praised 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 need to stop taxpayer money from going to insurance companies and instead give it straight to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Opposition Reaction
Opposition senators shared concerned reactions to Trump's plan.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same failed Republican plan that's been defeated by voters and Congress."
Another senator responded to the censure of carriers by writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? Then I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Continuing Talks
The Senate adjourned without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an developing plan from a small group of centrist lawmakers to end the shutdown in return for a future vote on the Obamacare payments.
One Democratic senator, who is leading the talks among centrists, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an offer to reopen the government and continue the payments for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator continued in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a one-year extension of the payments before negotiating the long-term of the subsidies.
"Inaction is derelict because citizens will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator said in a Senate address. "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 carriers, or that Republican lawmakers need the support of eight Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Some analysts suggested that the core of such a proposal would remove the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover patients with existing health issues.
After his resort visit, Trump returned to his private club and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to eliminate and replace Obamacare with a version of the proposal that failed to garner enough backing in 2017.
