🔗 Share this article

US senators are working through the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began more than a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the impasse appeared to diminish as Republican senators floated a proposal toxic to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, known as Obamacare.

Growing Consequences of Government Shutdown

The impact on Americans from the lengthiest shutdown of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, carriers were forced to ground planes and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.

President's Plan from Florida Resort

As weekend session got under way, GOP senators embraced a suggestion made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course 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 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 Endorsement

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

"We will replace this failing program with something that is actually better for the consumer," one senator said.

Another senator commended Trump's proposal on social media, and stood next to a giant blow-up of Trump's post as he spoke on the Senate floor.

"I am drafting the bill right now," a third senator wrote in response to Trump's proposal. "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."

Opposition Response

Democratic lawmakers shared alarmed reactions to Trump's plan.

"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is yet another cynical attempt to eliminate 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 carriers by writing: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? In that case I applaud your support for Medicare for All."

Continuing Negotiations

The Senate went into recess without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an emerging proposal from a handful of centrist lawmakers to terminate the closure in return for a later vote on the ACA subsidies.

One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the talks among centrists, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an proposal to reopen the government and extend the subsidies for a year.

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

"Inaction is derelict because citizens will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator said in a Senate address. "That's 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 plans from the same insurance companies, or that Republican legislators need the backing of several Democrats to restart the government, and the idea of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.

Several observers suggested that the essence of such a plan would eliminate the ACA's mandate that carriers cover patients with existing health issues.

After his resort visit, Trump returned to his private club and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to eliminate and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that was unsuccessful to secure enough backing in 2017.