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A UGUST 21, 2013
P ORTLAND , O REGON
V OLUME XXXV, N O . 46
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C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
Obama
Health
Kickoff
ZUMBA
Families earning up
to 400 percent of
poverty level qualify
By Helen Silvis
Of The Skanner News
PHOTO BY HELEN SILVIS
S
tarting Oct. 1, state health exchanges
will begin signing people up for health
insurance under the Affordable Care
Act, better known as Obamacare.
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and Multnomah
County Commissioner Loretta Smith held a
joint town hall in Portland, Monday, to
answer questions about the Affordable Care
Act, better known as Obamacare, and to
urge people to sign up.
Wyden said reducing costs by improving
prevention and coordinating care is an
important goal that will benefit the economy
for the long-term.
“This fall we’ll see some dramatic
changes so that health care isn’t just for the
healthy and wealthy,” he said.
“Everything that goes on from the time
the Affordable care Act kicks in will be to
put a new focus on prevention. It’s not any
longer just about sick care.”
Wyden said he plans to push for a rule
change that will allow Medicare to negotiate
for lower medication costs. Right now, he
said, the rules don’t allow that.
“Medicare is 50 million people and we
need to let those 50 million people have
clout in the marketplace,” he said.
Anyone already on Medicaid, Medicare or
the Oregon Health Plan, won’t have to do
anything to continue getting their health-
care. But about 200,000 more people across
the state – families with incomes at or below
138 percent of the federal poverty level—
will be eligible for free care through the
Oregon Health Plan.
Another 400,000, families with incomes
below 400 percent of the poverty level, will
be able to get financial help through tax
credits. The credits can be paid monthly to
your insurer or taken at the end of the year.
Multnomah County serves 70,000 people
in its community and school-based clinics,
and expects to serve 50,000 more people
Hundreds came out to Wilshire Park in Northeast Portland last Saturday for the 11th Annual Soul Stroll for Health,
organized by the African American Health Coalition with the support of many sponsors. The event, a benefit for
the health coalition, included one of the biggest Zumba workouts ever. Funds raised will help support the AAHC’s
low-cost exercise program, the upcoming 18th Annual Wellness Village Health Fair in October, and more. Find out
about the coalition’s programs at www.aahc-portland.org.
Mortgage Fraud Hits Family
National officials duke it out over inadequate consumer protection
Lisa Loving
Of The Skanner News
R
ealtyTrac reported last
week that Oregon is the
second hottest spot in the
nation for home foreclosure.
And as The Skanner News
went to press this week, the
national Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau issued a
report faulting mortgage servic-
ing processes – and calling out
Attorney General Eric Holder
for not doing enough for con-
sumers.
See CARE on page 3
INDEX
News .................2,3,12
Opinion ..................4,5
A & E ......................6-8
Food..........................9
Auto.........................10
Bids/Classifieds ........11
While many critics blame
defaulted homeowners for cre-
ating their own financial
problems, the issue of mortgage
fraud, detailed in a recent FBI
report, touches many homeown-
ers in crisis.
At issue is the federal insur-
ance that mortgage servicers
rely on when consumers default
on loans; the Federal Housing
Administration literally pays
out claims to mortgage servicers
based on these defaults.
And the FHA has paid out
some $12 billion in claims now
considered fraudulent by the
U.S. Department of Justice.
That’s no surprise to North-
east residents Michael and Judy
McEldery, who are getting
ready to fight an unusually
sticky court battle over the
North Portland home that has
been in their family for 50
years.
Their lawyer says the case
involves clear evidence of fraud
by Nationstar Mortgage, the
finance company that bought
the McElderys’ mortgage debt
after it was resold several times.
“This case reveals a corporate
system that’s not governed by
sound policies or individual
decision-making. Nationstar’s
conduct in this case appears
solely motivated by the prospect
of maximizing profitability and
market share,” the McElderys
attorney Mike Fuller says. “And
the law is on their side most of
the time.”
Nationstar Mortgage’s Port-
land-based attorney did not
return a request for comment.
FORECLOSURE page 3
March on Washington, in Portland
Rallies to ‘redeem the dream’ on historic event’s 50th anniversary
By Helen Silvis
Of The Skanner News
E
vents to commemorate the 50th
Anniversary of the historic March on
Washington on Aug. 24, are under-
way in Washington and around the country.
Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III,
and the families of Emmett Till and Trayvon
Martin are among the speakers at Washing-
ton DC’s “Realize the Dream,” rally.
Portland is holding Redeem the Dream,
the regional march for civil rights advocates
in the Northwest. The Albina Ministerial
Alliance for Justice and Police Reform has
raised more than $8,000 so far. Additional
donations will be needed to fund the buses
and permits.
Other donations include a supply of drink-
ing water donated by New Seasons markets,
walkie talkies and garbage cans, donated by
Recycle Portland. Volunteers have come
forward to handle security, and members of
the National Lawyers Guild wearing bright
green hats, will be among the crowd to doc-
ument any incidents that occur. Still
needed? Volunteer lawyers, march moni-
tors, doctors, nurses, or other medical staff
See MARCH on page 3