US lawmakers are working through the weekend for the initial time since the federal closure began more than a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to recede as GOP senators proposed a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, called Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Federal Closure
The effect on Americans from the longest closure of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, airlines were forced to cancel flights and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.
President's Proposal from Golf Course
As Saturday's session got started, Republican senators embraced a proposal made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be replaced by health savings accounts.
"I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to profit-driven 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 welcomed the proposal, which is similar to a replacement for Obamacare proposed in 2017.
"We will replace this failing program with something that is actually better for the patient," one senator said.
Another senator commended Trump's proposal on online platforms, and stood next to a large print of Trump's post as he spoke on the Senate floor.
"I'm writing the bill right now," a third senator posted in reply to Trump's proposal. "We need to stop public funds from going to carriers and instead give it directly to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."
Opposition Response
Democratic senators shared alarmed responses to Trump's plan.
"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 failed Republican plan that's been rejected by the public and Congress."
Another lawmaker responded to the criticism of insurance companies by writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? Then I applaud your support for Medicare for All."
Continuing Talks
The Senate adjourned without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an emerging plan from a small group of moderate Democrats to terminate the shutdown in exchange for a future vote on the ACA payments.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans rejected an proposal to restart the government and extend the subsidies for a year.
Another senior Democratic senator persisted in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the payments before discussing the future of the subsidies.
"Doing nothing is derelict because people will go into debt, 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."
Partisan Dynamics
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that patients would still need to buy coverage from the same carriers, or that Republican legislators need the support of eight Democrats to restart the government, and the idea of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several analysts indicated that the core of such a plan would eliminate the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover individuals with existing health issues.
After his resort visit, Trump returned to his private club and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that was unsuccessful to garner enough support in 2017.
