The 41-day Schumer Shutdown finally is winding down. Democrat intransigence petered out and not a nanosecond too soon. On Oct. 9, CNN quoted a “senior Democratic aide” who predicted that Sen. Chuck Schumer and his caucus would not reopen the federal government absent “planes falling out of the sky.” One month later, flight delays multiplied as unpaid air traffic controllers struggled to ignore their financial distractions and keep jets from plowing into each other.

Before Senate Democrats drowned in the blood of an aviation catastrophe that they made likelier, eight of them voted with Republicans to reopen the government. Once regular order resumes, Democrats and Republicans should enact President Donald Trump’s latest proposal.

“I am recommending 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, and have money left over,” Trump wrote Saturday, via Truth Social. “In other words, take from the BIG, BAD Insurance Companies, give it to the people, and terminate, per Dollar spent, the worst Healthcare anywhere in the World, ObamaCare.”

Health-policy experts call this “premium support”—federal funds to help needy Americans purchase the medical insurance that they want. As I advocated on Tavis Smiley’s Oct. 31 radio broadcast, this approach would not stampede people into a government health monopoly. Instead, it would operate like school choice.

Just as Pell Grants empower students to attend public campuses (e.g. UCLA), private colleges (Vassar), or sectarian universities (Georgetown), Trump would turbocharge what health scholar John Goodman dubbed “Patient Power” in his so-named free-market classic. Liberated Americans could use these “temporary Obamacare enhancements,” as Politico called them in 2021, to keep Obamacare or purchase other coverage.

Coupling these funds with Health Savings Accounts would let patients buy insurance and then use any remaining money for pharmaceuticals, physical therapy, or husband it to finance out-of-network treatments or eldercare, decades hence. Congress should encourage individuals and employers to deposit additional tax-preferred funds into HSAs. Self-employed Americans should be free to contribute the employee and employer shares into their HSAs.

To maximize choice and spread the risk of welcoming those with preexisting conditions, Congress should WD-40 this rusted-shut market and approve insurance sales across state lines, catastrophic policies, risk pools, and innovations yet unseen. Let a thousand coverage options bloom!

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., himself a doctor, offers this simple, brilliant idea: “Churches, credit unions, and nonprofit associations like Scouting America could become new sources of health coverage that would not cost taxpayers anything,” Paul wrote in USA Today. “Associations could compete against one another to provide the best possible price for their members.”

Amazon Prime, Walmart, and other retailers could sell policies to their members.

“Large corporations have greater negotiation power with insurance companies and have access to a wide array of benefit advisers and consultants that small businesses simply cannot afford,” Paul added. He cited Costco’s 44 million members. “If all of them bought insurance, one person would be negotiating with the insurance companies for 44 million people. That’s bigger than any corporation in America, and that would drive prices down.”

Illegal aliens should not enjoy these benefits. Foreign invaders should be booted, not bolstered.

And the dole should serve the poor. HSAs should be universally available, but subsidies should be limited to individuals with adjusted gross incomes below $50,000 and families of four earning less than $100,000.

Democrats should not fear this proposal. If Obamacare is so great, patients will use their subsidies to keep Obamacare. If Democrats complain that Trump’s concept will prompt Obamacare beneficiaries to take their money and run, then they would concede that Obamacare is sinking.

Trump’s grand compromise would give Democrats the subsidies they savor and Republicans the choice they cherish.

If Democrats rebuff this notion, they will reject the very subsidies over which they padlocked the government on Sept. 19. If so, Democrats will insist on trapping Americans in steerage aboard the doomed USS Obamacare rather than freeing them to man the lifeboats—with government assistance for the needy—and row toward whichever health care safe harbors they prefer.

Trump’s reform is a win-win for Democrats who are sincere about helping Americans secure truly affordable health insurance and Republicans who would use taxpayer dollars to help less-affluent Americans enjoy private coverage.

Democrats: Join Republicans in this week’s votes and open the government. Republicans: Join Democrats, negotiate the details, and Make Health Coverage Great Again.

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