🔗 Share this article Congressional GOP Back President's Call to Overhaul Obamacare American lawmakers are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began more than a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to end the impasse appeared to diminish as Republican senators proposed a proposal toxic to Democrats: eliminating the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. Deepening Impact of Government Shutdown The effect on Americans from the longest closure of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as federal workers went without pay, carriers were compelled to ground planes and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been delayed for 42 million Americans. Trump's Proposal 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 resort in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be substituted 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. Republican Endorsement Multiple Republican senators praised the plan, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare proposed in 2017. "We're going to replace this failing program with something that is actually better for the consumer," one senator said. Another senator praised 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'm writing the bill right now," a third senator wrote in reply to Trump's suggestion. "We must stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it straight to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want." Opposition Reaction Opposition senators shared alarmed responses to Trump's plan. "In other words, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is yet another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by voters and Congress." Another lawmaker responded to the censure of carriers by writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? Then I applaud your support for Medicare for All." Ongoing Talks The Senate adjourned without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an willingness to an developing plan from a handful of moderate Democrats to terminate the closure in exchange for a future vote on the ACA subsidies. One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "need another way ahead" after Republicans rejected an proposal to restart the government and extend the subsidies for a year. Another senior Democratic senator continued in maintaining that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the future of the subsidies. "Doing nothing is irresponsible because citizens will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator stated in a Senate address. "That is what will happen if this Congress fails to act." Political Situation Not one of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with 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 substituting Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote. Some observers suggested that the core of such a plan would remove the ACA's mandate that carriers cover patients with existing health issues. After his resort visit, Trump went back to his private club and reiterated on his demand that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a version of the proposal that was unsuccessful to garner enough support in 2017.