After the second enrollment period in the Affordable Care Act’s Health Benefit Exchanges ended in February, the state of Florida – at 1.6 million enrollees – led the nation.

The Sunshine State enrollees–the vast majority of whom are entitled to subsidies–have been governed by either former Gov. Jeb Bush or U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, or both. And therein lies a conundrum.

Bush is likely to run for the job of president of the United States. He called Obamacare a “monstrosity.”

Rubio spent his formative years in South Florida – the region which boasts the top ten zip codes in the nation for Obamacare enrollment. He recently announced his intention to run for the presidency, declaring that the ACA should be “repealed.”

In contrast, the most populous state in the nation, California, whose state Legislature is controlled by Democrats, has nearly 1.4 million enrolled in ACA exchange plans.

This paradox in GOP-led Florida has caused political analysts and government watchdogs to wonder: How did a state with such high-profile opposition to the unpopular individual mandate of Obamacare become its enrollment epicenter?

Read more at Watchdog.org.

By Izzy Lyman | Watchdog Arena

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