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tions about the program and the problems they're running into as the March 31 deadline approaches to sign up for coverage in new insurance markets.
• Two of their questions and AP's answers:
• WHEN YOU LOSE YOUR PLAN
• Q: "My premium AND my deductible are doubling ... in order to comply with Obamacare -- I liked my coverage before and I was promised repeatedly I could keep it. My husband is self-employed so we don't get the breaks big corporations do. My question is how are self-employed people supposed to afford insurance under the 'Affordable Healthcare Act'?" -- Amber Wiser Thompson, Saint Clairsville, Ohio.
• Her story: When she posed the question, she and her self-employed husband were facing soaring costs for a new health plan starting this month. Their insurer was discontinuing their old plan because it didn't meet standards of the Affordable Care Act. The insurer's replacement plan cost $1,100 a month with a $5,000 deductible -- in both respects, twice what they've been paying. More than 4 million Americans similarly found themselves scrambling for new private coverage when their old plans were pulled from the market because they didn't comply with Obamacare.
• ___
Secret Service agents sent home from Netherlands for disciplinary reasons before Obama trip
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Secret Service sent three agents home from the Netherlands just before President Barack Obama's arrival after one agent was found inebriated in an Amsterdam hotel, the Secret Service said Tuesday.
• The three agents were benched Sunday for "disciplinary reasons," said Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan, declining to elaborate. Donovan said the incident was prior to Obama's arrival Monday in the country and did not compromise the president's security in any way.
• Still, the incident represents a fresh blemish for an elite agency struggling to rehabilitate its reputation following a high-profile prostitution scandal and other allegations of misconduct. An inspector general's report in December concluded there was no evidence of widespread misconduct, in line with the service's longstanding assertion that it has no tolerance for inappropriate behavior.
• The agents sent home from Amsterdam were placed on administrative leave, according to The Washington Post, which first reported the disciplinary action. The (Continued on page 31)
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