We love a mystery

It was another case of what’s called The Buried Lede in this trade: The nut of a news story being reserved for the final paragraph or two of a news story, like a piquant dessert after a boring main course-or a sip of port after a good dinner just to clear the mind or, if necessary, befog it.

In this case, the buried lede appeared at the end of still another dispatch about the ever more involved Private Option within the endlessly more involved maze and mess called Obamacare.

It seems a consulting firm-the one clear class Obamacare has benefited sumptuously has been the consultants-has come up with a not-so-mysterious nugget of statistical information, to wit:

“The firm said that Arkansas’ enrollment [in the new health insurance exchanges] was only 18 percent of the124,376 that would be expected for 2014, based on the Congressional Budget Office projection and the firm’s ‘proprietary enrollment model.’ Only Massachusetts had a lower enrollment model.”

There’s no mystery here. Just think about it. Folks in Arkansas may shy away from the higher premiums that come with the Cadillac policies that Obamacare insists on for everyone, complete with all the bells and whistles, chrome and geegaws. Think of abortion coverage for men or erectile dysfunction treatment for women. No wonder enrollment in the exchanges lags.

As for why Massachusetts policyholders aren’t flocking to Obamacare, either, could it be because so many were already enrolled in a superior system? It’s called Romneycare.

Mystery solved.

Editorial, Pages 14 on 02/20/2014

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