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US senators 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 end the standoff appeared to diminish as Republican senators floated a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: eliminating the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.

Deepening Consequences of Government Shutdown

The impact on US citizens from the lengthiest closure of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went without pay, carriers were compelled to cancel flights and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.

President's Plan from Golf Course

As Saturday's meeting got started, GOP senators embraced a suggestion made on social media 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 posted.

GOP Support

Multiple Republican senators praised the plan, which is similar to a replacement for Obamacare put forward in 2017.

"We will replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the consumer," one senator stated.

Another senator praised Trump's suggestion on online platforms, and displayed a large print of Trump's post as he addressed on the Senate floor.

"I am drafting the bill right now," a third senator wrote in reply to Trump's suggestion. "We need to stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it straight to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."

Opposition Reaction

Democratic lawmakers expressed alarmed responses to Trump's proposal.

"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is 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 lawmaker responded to the censure of carriers by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Seriously? In that case I applaud your support for universal healthcare."

Ongoing Talks

The Senate adjourned without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an developing plan from a handful of moderate Democrats to terminate the shutdown in return for a later vote on the Obamacare subsidies.

One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" 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 subsidies before discussing the long-term of the subsidies.

"Doing nothing is derelict because citizens will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get sicker," the senator stated in a Senate address. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."

Political Dynamics

Not one of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that patients would still need to buy coverage from the same insurance companies, or that Republican lawmakers need the backing of several Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.

Several analysts suggested that the core of such a proposal would eliminate the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover patients with pre-existing conditions.

After his golf outing, Trump went back 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 garner enough backing in 2017.