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PODCAST: Obamacare will force some to switch insurance

2 to 3 percent of people who currently purchase their own insurance will need to switch to a new plan. Edward Snowden’s former employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, announces earnings. Did it feel a Snowden penalty? And, Cuba is shutting down 20,000 businesses that sell clothing.

As it turns out, some Americans will be forced to switch health care plans because of the Affordable Care Act. Jonathan Gruber, professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who helped design Obamacare, joins David Brancaccio to discuss.

Edward Snowden’s former employer Booz Allen Hamilton announces earnings today. The ginormous contractor gets almost all of its revenue from the federal government: $5.8 billion worth last year. But the landscape for companies like Booz Allen might be shifting.

In Cuba, the government is about to shut down as many as 20,ooo businesses that sell clothing. The businesses hold licenses to do tailoring and dressmaking — not retail — and compete with the Cuban government’s official retail operations. This marks a reversal of sorts for the communist government’s campaign to let small enterprise flourish.

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