US senators are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the federal closure began more than a month ago, but expectations for a cross-party deal on how to end the standoff appeared to recede as Republican senators floated a plan unacceptable to Democrats: eliminating the ACA, called Obamacare.
Deepening Impact of Federal Closure
The effect on Americans from the lengthiest shutdown of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as federal workers went without pay, airlines were forced to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.
Trump's Plan from Florida Resort
As Saturday's session got under way, 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 replaced by HSA-style accounts.
"My recommendation is to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of 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 wrote.
GOP Support
Multiple Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is comparable with 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 stated.
Another senator praised Trump's suggestion on social media, and displayed a large print of Trump's post as he spoke 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 public funds from going to carriers and instead give it straight to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Opposition Reaction
Opposition senators shared alarmed responses to Trump's proposal.
"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 unsuccessful Republican plan that's been rejected by the public and Congress."
Another senator responded to the criticism of carriers by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? Then I applaud your support for universal healthcare."
Continuing Negotiations
The Senate went into recess without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an developing plan from a small group of moderate Democrats to terminate the closure in return for a later vote on the ACA payments.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "need another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an offer to reopen the government and extend the payments for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator persisted in arguing that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before negotiating the long-term of the subsidies.
"Inaction is irresponsible because citizens will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator said in a Senate address. "That's 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 several Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of repealing and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.
Several analysts suggested that the core of such a plan would remove the ACA's requirement that carriers cover individuals with pre-existing conditions.
After his resort visit, Trump went back to his residence and doubled down on his demand that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to eliminate and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that was unsuccessful to garner enough support in 2017.
