but because we wanted to protect consumers who were victimized by insurance companies. >> reporter: the spotlight of the premium costs will heat up next month, that is when the proposed rate plans will be filed with the state. ahead of the big push this fall to sign up millions americans without health insurance. >> joining us now to talk more about rising health insurance claims, jonathan gruber, a key architect -- who is right here? the actuaries or the white house and the cbo, the congressional budget office, who in a study in 2009, said apples to apples, average premiums will stay roughly where they are or fall? >> i think the key point is both are talking besides the point.

we are not talking about the vast majority of americans, vast majority of americans have employer sponsored insurance, this is a small stud, about those that are in the individual market. in that market, the premiums are will probably rise. not as much as the study said, but it will be offset by tax credits that are a rkey element of the law. >> who pays the tax subsidies? >> they are paid for by spending reductions that are part of the act. >> i agree with you, this is only pertaining to those in the individual masrket. what happens, not only to just the average premium, so, are there groups that will end up paying a lot more and groups under obamacare who for

individual policies may pay less than they otherwise would have? >> basically anybody who is low income, below 2.5% the poverty line, they will pay, or about $40,000 for a family. they will be paying less. they will be eligible for large tax credits. if you are above that level, or you are sicker or older and you were excluded, you will pay less. now you get to be in the market and have real insurance coverage. you will pay less, the group that will pay more, is young healthy individuals who are not poor. that group benefits today from a discriminatory market. when you end discrimination, that market had will suffer. >> let's go to the question of insurance, most of the insurance in the country is supplied through employer plan or subsidized by employers one way or the other. what is likely going to happen

to the cost and price of those plans and what i as an employee or a member of a group might pay in. >> that's a great opponent, and that is what the major conversation should be. not about the report today, but about employer sponsored insurance. which is what matters to most of us. and basically the law will have little effect on that. premiums, will go up a percent or two, and down a percent or two, this is not a big effect on employer sponsored insurance. the goal of the law was to leave people who like their insurance alone. the big change will be small groups, they will have access to exchanges where their employees can now have a choice across a wide variety of health insurance plans. >> does the affordable care act ban lifetime maximum pay outs under plans and might that under the group setting raise premiums eventually? >> maybe a little bit. but again, it's interesting, the conversation tends to focus on the cost.

let's step back and look at the big picture. we are saying that no longer will you be bankrupted because you get hit by a car stepping off the curb. in return, cost may go up a bit. that is a tradeoff we should be willing to make as a society. >> thank you for being with us. >> my pleasure. >> here is an interesting twist to the housing recovery that we have been talking about. pending home sales were weak because there were not enough homes on the market. these are contracts that were signed and not closed, they fell slightly more than expected. but the national association of realtors are saying that pending sales are near a three-year high. >> the nation's central bank pledged to keep bench mark rates at the record low levels until the jobless rate falls a percent

lower than the signal that will have them pull back on easy money policies. >> the chill in the air has been stubborn this month in the northeast, but auto sales are hot. and one sure sign of spring is the new york auto show. that led automakers to launch more than 140 new products up from 90 a year ago. full scale redesigns more than doubled and the make overs are happening faster than ever. every four to five years instead of the traditional 7 or 8. so it's no wonder that sales in march are predicted to surge as much as 8%. that marks the best level in nearly six years. the big three are expected to report strong numbers including general motor. i asked what is driving the sales. >> we are seeing success of the

new vehicles so far, we had a new escape and new fusion last year and they are helping to drive the sales this year. so far we have up .9%. >> are you seeing more first-time buyers and young buyers comes into show rooms, that is what analysts say is critical to have long-term growth. >> we are, we are seeing a number of first-time buyers. we are actually seeing a number of buyers from other makes coming in. it's being driven by the fuel efficient cars. that is fuelling the market. as well as the trucks. >> you know, yesterday, ford ceo was complaining about the devaluation of the yen against the dollar. and the yen has dropped 15% again the dollar. are you finding now that the

prices on toyotas are making them more attractive more american buyers? >> well, we have not seen it in the marketplace, but we are anxious about what is going on take place. because clearly we believe markets should set the exchange rates. and markets should compete fairly with each other in different economies. we will watch it carefully. we are growing the business right now, so we will compete with our great new vehicles and watch it carefully. >> if you know, the auto show focuses in on luxury brands. i want to ask you how are march sales doing for the new lincoln? >> you know, we have been launching the new lincoln mkz this month, we are seeing arrivals in the show rooms and dealerships coming at the end of the month of march. the dealers will have plenty of inventory for april. march will be down again as was last year, but we look forward to april where we will have good stock. >> you have been running big ad campaigns for the lincoln, is it

working? is it bringing in younger buyers? >> we are seeing a big interest on the lincoln. the interest has gone up online, and also the mkz is driving interest. it's a smaller car that people are interested in and looking forward to april sales. >> you are talking about the sales for the pickup truck picking up. what does ford have to do to keep its lead with the other manufacturers coming out with trucks? >> we have been the leader for 36 years and we do not plan to give it up. we have a lot of great inventory, and we are looking forward to another great sales year. we watch our competition, but we have been the leader and we will continue to be the leader. >> joe, i want to ask you about the controversial ad that was run in india, what was your

personal reaction to it? >> well, we were shocked. just like everybody else and frankly it was nothing that we would approve or set up for production. we know our ad agency partner dealt with the employees resolved and take it seriously and we understand the seriousness of the issue. it's not something that we condone and we were shocked like everyone else. >> what kind of damage did it do to ford's reputation? >> i think reacting quickly and understanding that we didn't have a part in the production of the ad has to do with what ford stands for, and we believe it's shocking and we will continue to move forward. but we apologize and we understand why people are offended and would not let it happen again. >> coming up, students are deep in debt, defaults are on the rise and now there's another issue creating headaches for borrows and taxpayers alike. first, have a look at how the international markets closed today.

>> a wall treat. political uncertainty and wall street followed suit for most of today's trading. the dow lost 33 points a day after a triple digit gain lifted the blue chip to a fresh all-time closing high.

the nasdaq lost a point. >> the fda has approved biogen drug, it's expected to be the number one treatment for the disorder wi disorder. the shares gained more than 3%, the stock is up more than 25% so far this year. a strong day for shares of aol after a analyst upgraded the company, calling for modest revenue growth. the shares of aol are rated at a $44 price target. their shares have doubled in a year and have closed up 8% today. >> and even on a so-so market day, some stocks were at a all

time high. master card closed at $538. prosecutors are examining whether the bank fully alerted authorities to suspicions about madoff, they said they acted in good faith. >> and a coal and iron company was the worst performing stock in s&p 500 today. morgan stanley down graded the stock. it's down more than 70% over the past year. >> we have been reporting on paying for college, which for most students and their families

involves taking out loans. as we wrap up the series, hitting the books, we report that with growing debt comes growing problems collecting it. >> reporter: $3.5 billion in student loans have gone bad in the first three months of the year alone. all told, $85 billion in defaulted federal student loans, nearly 7 million borrows. like jason, he is 46, graduated from bingham ton university with $20,000 in debt. he got sick, fell behind and interest and fees piled up. on that $20,000 in principal, he has paid $26,000, but the government said he owes more than $39,000. >> i never thought i would be pushing 50 years old and still talking about this. >> he said that he has been hounded by collection agents and now his wages are being garnished, at this rate, he will pay off his loans in his 70s.

it's tough enough to collect on the student loans, but the problem's system for collecting loans which relies heavily on private contractors is by many measures a mess. the government can't even start collection proceedings on $1.7 billion in loans. a system installed by xerox. the department of education said is that overall default collections are way up. and regrets the delay on what a spokesman called a small percentage of loans, is working with the vendor to resolve the problem and the majority of the loans will go to collection in the coming weeks. that means turning them over to private collection agencies. but the companies are more interested in making money than managing debt. >> their incentives are not aligned with protecting borrows' interest. >> the department has justed a justed the way it pays the firms and made it easier for borrows

to complain. they say it's a start. but barely a dent in the massive debt problem. >> as long as there's a trillion dollars out there, it will be an up hill battle. >> reporter: and steeper as student loan debt continues to grow. >> no question about it, it's a mess, and i think scott laid it out so well. you know, the kinds of student loan debt that is piling up for people, and in six figures, you are talking about $300,000 and they are stuck with it and no new job. >> you can do the math on that. it can be $300,000 if you go through in five years as many people do today. >> still ahead on the program, hiring our heroes what u.s. companies are doing to recruit more military veterans into the workforce. here is a look at how currency treasury and natural gas look today.

>> tomorrow is an important day for cyprus, the banks open for the first time in two weeks. they have received billions in euro zone bailout loans, the bank machines are being stocked

and they have put in place strict limits on cash withdrawals especially money leaving the country. will that relieve the panic when the people receive their money? >> reporter: if all goes according to plan in roughly 12 hours the people of cyprus will be able to walk in and withdrawal money, but they expect a run on the banks so the withdrawal limit have been put in place. inside this building, a private security company, 35 armored weaponry, and lots of euros. >> surely, it's going to be very, very busy. when we undertook the euro change over from from the cyprus to the euro.

>> reporter: armed officer stand by to protect employees so they are not attacked as they drive out. these same employeese worked had to make sure that tomorrow's opening will go smoothly. the banks were closed down because they were on the verge of collapse. only this week did they secure a bailout from europe, but in the process, they agreed to downsize the banking system. they need what is left of the banks to reopen, because the economy has ground to a halt. the head of the supermarket association said that he fears shortages. >> it's a matter of a few days. >> reporter: a matter of a few days. >> this week yeah. >> reporter: the port is at a stand still. the only activity, loading empty cargo containers to depart. shipping companies are demanding cash up front and there's not much of that in cyprus these days. when the banks reopen, they know

that life will never be the same on the tiny island. >> there has been an invasion. and we are heart broke. >> reporter: the new restriction includes a withdrawal limit of $300 a day. if you are traveling overseas, you can only use 3,000 per person per trip. no cashing of checks will be allowed. >> well, cyprus is not the only thing we will be watching, it's also the final day of trading for the first quarter, the markets are closed on friday for good friday. blackberry is going to report quarterly results. u.s. air ways got the green light to merge from the bankruptcy judge this afternoon. the company will keep the american name and become the

world's biggest airline if the justice department and u.s. air ways shareholders approve the deal. it's expected to close by the fall. the judge rejected a $19.9 million severance package for the out-going american ceo tom horton. and finally tonight, a week-long push to bring returning heroes from the wars in iraq and afghanistan closer to the jobs they need and they need and want. this week, the u.s. chamber of commerce is fighting for the receipt vets, setting up job fairs aimed at hiring the heroes. >> owenhas college and graduate degrees, still his return to civilian life was not easy. >> it was overwhelming, i didn't know what i was going to do

next. >> at the home of the national guard unit, 100 employers are entertaining more than 1,000 veterans, men and women who fought in iraq and afghanistan, all of them looking for jobs. >> the u.s. chamber of commerce set a goal last year to find 500,000 jobs for vets, they are at 100,000 with another 100,000 committed right now. wall treat is one target. citigroup hired last year and plans to bring in more this year. and wells fargo, they have fired, and j.p. morgan more than 12,000. the problem is this, national unemployment is 7.7%.

for post 9/11 veterans it's closer to 10%. >> there are three to four million jobs that are not being filled right now because we lack a trained workforce. we need to start with military and spouses. >> owen is a veteran of the program. >> to go from something that is your whole life to becoming a regular person with a job is a massively scary thing. >> he chose to pursue a career in financial services and landed a job at capital one and has been working in virginia ever since, today he was here to recruit and pay it forward. >> i got my job only because of this. >> it's a wonderful program. we were visited earlier today

here at headquarters by a group called heroes to heroes for individual service men and women who are on 100% disability. they cannot go back to work, and if they do, and it does not work, many of them have ptsd, then they lose their disability. the program is taking groups of the vets over to israel, which has a very, very comprehensive program for taking care of wounded receipt rwoun wounded veterans. >> companies that hire vets like them because they think on their feet, they know how to do more with less resources and they make, you know, good leaders. so, good news to the ones that are healthy enough to get jobs. >> and they know how to perform under stress. let's point that out. >> that is it for us tonight. >> thank you for joining us and we hope to see you back here tomorrow night.

tonight on "quest" -- the human body is a miraculous machine, and top athletes can tune it for both strength and endurance. find out how performance-enhancing drugs can accelerate that process at a

price. and in the library of congress alone, there are millions of historic audio recordings, many too damaged to play. see how a bay area physicist and his team have come with a revolutionary new way to play back priceless old records and cylinders without ever touching them. major funding for "quest" is provided by -- the national science foundation. the gordon and betty moore foundation, investing in partnerships for environmental conservation, science and the san francisco bay area. the richard and rhoda goldman foundation, celebrating more than 50 years of innovative grantmaking. and the amgen foundation. additional support provided

by -- the william k. bowes, jr. foundation. anne s. bowers, the robert noyce trust. the dirk and charlene kabcenell foundation. and the vadasz family foundation. support is also provided by -- there was a time, not that long ago, when people felt that the playing field was level. back then, the only way to enhance your body was to combine discipline and hard work. but as the pursuit of human peak performance strays further into bioscience, technology is calling into question the very nature of what we mean by human potential. craig cisar is a professor of kinesiology at san jose state.