For years now we’ve been told that ObamaCare would be more of a trick than a treat. The law’s most strident dissenters have told us that the law represented socialism at the worst, federal bankruptcy at the least and unconstitutionality regardless. Two and a half years later, future threats are still being put on the table by detractors ringing the doorbell, but what’s really been delivered to Arizona’s doorstep are treats.

Among the facts are these: 69,000 young adults under age 26 with coverage through their parents’ plans, $66 million in prescription drug savings for Arizona Medicare enrollees, preventive service coverage for 1 million Arizonans with private insurance, and $28 million in private insurance rebates this past summer (thanks to the 80/20 Medical Loss Ratio provision). That’s after you skip the basic fixes related to things most Americans support such as the elimination of pre-existing conditions and before you tally up millions of dollars ObamaCare has invested in Arizona on practical solutions like school-based health centers; maternal, infant and early childhood home visits; and health workforce demonstration projects.

Look at it that way, and ObamaCare doesn’t resemble a big scary monster poised to pounce from out of the darkness as much as it does that person down the street trying to help your kids to grow up healthy and well-adjusted. It makes you wonder: who’s trying to pull the trick of making ObamaCare into the bogeyman, and for what treat?