🔗 Share this article Congressional Republicans Back Trump's Call to Overhaul Obamacare American lawmakers are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the federal closure began more than a month ago, but hopes for a cross-party deal on how to resolve the impasse appeared to recede as Republican senators floated a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: eliminating the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare. Deepening Impact of Government Shutdown The impact on US citizens from the longest closure of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, carriers were forced to ground planes and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans. Trump's Plan from Florida Resort As Saturday's session got under way, Republican senators embraced a proposal made on social media 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 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. GOP Support Multiple Republican senators welcomed the proposal, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare proposed in 2017. "We're going to replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the consumer," one senator stated. Another senator praised Trump's proposal on social media, and displayed 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 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 medical coverage they want." Democratic Response Democratic senators shared alarmed reactions to Trump's proposal. "Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is yet another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by voters and Congress." Another lawmaker reacted to the criticism of insurance companies by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? In that case I applaud your support for universal healthcare." Continuing Negotiations The Senate went into recess without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an developing proposal from a small group of centrist lawmakers to end the closure in exchange for a future vote on the Obamacare subsidies. One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "need another path forward" after Republicans turned down an proposal to reopen the government and continue the payments for a year. Another senior Democratic senator persisted in maintaining that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the future of the tax credits. "Doing nothing is derelict because citizens will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That is what will happen if this Congress fails to act." Partisan Situation None of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that consumers would still need to buy plans from the same carriers, or that Republican lawmakers need the support of eight Democrats to restart the government, and the idea of repealing and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote. Some observers indicated that the essence of such a proposal would eliminate the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover patients with pre-existing conditions. After his resort visit, Trump returned to his residence and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to eliminate and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that failed to secure enough support in 2017.