🔗 Share this article

American lawmakers are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but expectations for a cross-party deal on how to end the impasse appeared to recede as Republican senators floated a plan unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, known as Obamacare.

Deepening Impact of Government Shutdown

The effect on Americans from the lengthiest closure of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as federal workers went without pay, carriers were compelled to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.

Trump's Plan from Florida Resort

As weekend meeting got under way, Republican senators welcomed a proposal made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be substituted by HSA-style accounts.

"My recommendation is 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.

GOP Support

Multiple Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is similar to a alternative for Obamacare proposed in 2017.

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

Another senator commended Trump's suggestion on social media, and displayed 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 proposal. "We must stop public funds from going to insurance companies and instead give it directly to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the health care they want."

Opposition Reaction

Opposition senators expressed alarmed reactions to Trump's plan.

"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is yet another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "It's the same failed Republican plan that's been rejected by voters and Congress."

Another lawmaker reacted to the censure of insurance companies by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? In that case I welcome your support for universal healthcare."

Continuing Talks

The Senate adjourned without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an willingness 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 "need another path forward" after Republicans rejected an offer to reopen the government and extend the subsidies for a year.

Another senior Democratic lawmaker persisted in arguing that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before negotiating the future of the subsidies.

"Doing nothing is derelict because citizens will go bankrupt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress fails to act."

Partisan 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 legislators need the backing of several Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of repealing and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.

Some analysts indicated that the core of such a plan would remove the ACA's requirement that carriers cover patients with pre-existing conditions.

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