🔗 Share this article

American lawmakers are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the federal closure began more than a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to end the impasse appeared to recede as GOP senators proposed a plan toxic to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

Deepening Impact of Government Shutdown

The impact on US citizens from the longest closure of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, airlines 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 session got started, GOP senators embraced a proposal made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be substituted by HSA-style accounts.

"I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the 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 wrote.

Republican Support

Multiple Republican senators praised the proposal, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare put forward in 2017.

"We're going to replace this failing program with something that is truly better for the patient," one senator stated.

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 am drafting the bill right now," a third senator posted in response to Trump's suggestion. "We must stop public funds from going to carriers and instead give it straight to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the health care they want."

Democratic Response

Opposition lawmakers expressed alarmed responses to Trump's proposal.

"In other words, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is yet another cynical attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "It's the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been rejected by voters and Congress."

Another senator responded to the censure of insurance companies by writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the large insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Really? In that case I applaud your support for Medicare for All."

Continuing Negotiations

The Senate adjourned without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an developing plan from a small group of centrist lawmakers to terminate the closure in return for a future vote on the Obamacare payments.

One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans turned down an proposal to reopen the government and extend the payments for a year.

Another senior Democratic senator continued in arguing that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before discussing the future of the tax credits.

"Doing nothing is derelict because people will go bankrupt, people will lose insurance, people will get more ill," the senator said in a Senate address. "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 lawmakers need the backing of several Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a solitary Democratic vote.

Some analysts suggested that the core of such a plan would eliminate the ACA's requirement that carriers cover individuals with pre-existing conditions.

After his resort visit, Trump went back to his residence and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to eliminate and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that was unsuccessful to secure enough support in 2017.