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American lawmakers are working through the weekend for the initial time since the federal closure began over a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to diminish as GOP senators floated a plan unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.

Growing Consequences of Federal Closure

The impact on US citizens from the lengthiest closure of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, airlines were forced to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.

Trump's Plan from Florida Resort

As Saturday's session got started, Republican senators welcomed a proposal 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.

"I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking Insurance Companies in order to save the ineffective Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE," Trump wrote.

Republican Endorsement

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

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

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'm writing 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 directly to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."

Opposition Reaction

Opposition lawmakers expressed concerned 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 stated. "It's the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been rejected by the public 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 ripping-off Americans. Seriously? Then I welcome your support for universal healthcare."

Ongoing Negotiations

The Senate adjourned without reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an emerging proposal from a small group of moderate Democrats to end the closure in return for a future vote on the ACA payments.

One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the talks among moderates, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans rejected an offer to reopen the government and continue the payments for a year.

Another leading 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 irresponsible because people will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a Senate address. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."

Political Situation

None of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that patients would still need to buy plans from the same insurance companies, or that Republican lawmakers need the backing of several Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.

Some analysts suggested that the essence of such a plan would eliminate the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover patients with existing health issues.

After his golf outing, Trump went back to his residence and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that failed to secure enough backing in 2017.