international examiner february 5, 2014

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS

FREE EST. 1974 —SEATTLE VOLUME 41, NUMBER 3 — FEBRUARY 5, 2014 – FEBRUARY 18, 2014

The country’s premier nonprofit pan-Asian newspaper

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REMEMBERING VERA ING | 2 APIS AND ‘OBAMACARE’ | 5 ASIAN IMPRESSIONS | 11

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2 — February 5, 2014 – February 18, 2014 INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

IE OPINION

IESTAFF

Established in 1974, the International Examiner is the only non-profit pan-Asian American media organization in the country. Named after the International District in Seattle, the “IE” strives to create awareness within and for our APA communities. 622 South Washington Street, Seattle, WA 98104. (206) 624-3925. [email protected].

IE BOARD OF DIRECTORSGary Iwamoto, Vice President

Arlene OkiAndy Yip

ADVISORRon Chew

DEVELOPMENT MANAGERKathy Ho

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BUSINESS MANAGEREllen Suzuki

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EDITOR IN CHIEFTravis Quezon

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ARTS EDITORAlan Chong Lau

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CREATIVE DIRECTORRyan [email protected]

PRODUCTION DESIGNERNari Fateha

HERITAGE SPECIALISTEleanor Boba

ARCHIVISTBen AbrahamPaige Minister

INTERNSChelsee YeeChi Nguyen

EVENT LOGISTICS COORDINATORHolly Martinez

EDITORIAL ASSISTANTVowel Chu

PROOFREADERAnna Carriveau

CONTRIBUTORSGary IwamotoAtia Musazay

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Vera Ing: Living the dream, serving the community (1940-2014)Gary Iwamoto

IE Guest Contributor

Vera Ing was a woman of many interests, an eternal optimist who always saw the glass as half full. She wore many hats. She was a champion of Asian American art, a political junkie who loved participating in the democratic process, a com-munity activist who was committed to improv-ing conditions in the International District and the Pan-Asian American community, a loving wife who was married for more than 50 years, a devoted mother who made time to be involved in her children’s lives, and a doting grandmother who adored the children of her children.

Vera was born on September 28, 1940, on the birthday of Confucius, in the Year of the Drag-on. Her parents, D. Kan Chan and Ho Tim Chan operated the Don Ting Restaurant in the space now known as the Sea Garden Restaurant. The Chan family, including older brother John and older sister Mari, lived humbly in a one bedroom apartment in Canton Alley occupied today by the International District Emergency Center. Playing on metal swings on the Chong Wah playfield, at-tending Chinese school, watching movies at the Atlas Theatre, and having ice cream treats at Chick’s Creamery were part of Vera’s fond mem-ories of being a child of Chinatown.

She learned at an early age about community. Her father was an officer of the Chong Wah Be-nevolent Association. The close-knit fabric of Chinatown produced many “aunties” and “un-cles” from families like the Louies, the Dongs, the Ings, and the Chinns, who watched out for little Vera and formed relationships that lasted forever.

As Vera pointed out in her autobiography, Dim Sum The Seattle ABC (American Born Chinese) Dream, it was the goal of families like hers to own a spacious house and leave the one-room apartments of Chinatown. When Vera was eight years old, the family bought a house on East Jefferson Street in the Central Area for $2,000. It was a four story, four bedroom house with a large living room and entry area, a din-ing room and pantry, an attic and a basement with a coal furnace—quite a contrast from the crowded one-bedroom apartment that the fam-ily had in Canton Alley. But even though the family moved away, they maintained their ties to Chinatown—Vera continued going to Chinese school during the afternoon. As a teenager, she marched with the Chinese drill team.

Living in the Central Area opened a world be-yond Chinatown for Vera Faye Chan. She went to the Maryknoll summer school where she had Filipino classmates. She had Japanese American girlfriends. She went to school at Washington Junior High, then to Garfield High School. She

was a typical 1950s teenager, dating, go-ing to parties, and being a groupie for the Skyliners Dance Band, a Japanese American dance band. She even dat-ed Japanese Ameri-can boys, which was very frowned upon by Ah Mah, her mother.

In the summer of 1959, following her gradu-ation from high school, Vera attended the wed-ding of Florence Ing’s daughter. At the wedding, she was introduced to Joey Ing, a young archi-tecture student at the University of Washington. He was educated, presentable, and most impor-tant for Ah Mah, he was Chinese. Joey asked Vera out. She said yes. And one year later, they were married, a fifty-three-year love affair that lasted until Vera passed away. The two were meant for each other, Joey was the level-headed anchor who kept the often spontaneous Vera grounded.

In the 1960s, while Joey began to establish his career as one of the city’s creative architects, Vera’s world centered around raising a family. In a relatively short period of time, Vera gave birth to three children—JaDeane, Joel, and Jeffrey. The Ing family had outgrown the Bea-con Hill home overlooking the Jefferson Golf Course. Joey and Vera bought a house in the Mt. Baker neighborhood, a home with a swimming pool and an incredible view of Lake Washing-ton. The seller had been asking for $45,000 but to Joey and Vera’s good fortune, the seller ac-cepted their offer, which was considerably less. For most of the decade, Vera was a stay-at-home mom, but even in this capacity, she wasn’t con-tent. She had to be involved. Vera made it a point to know her Mt. Baker neighbors and joined the Mt. Baker Community Club, eventually becom-ing its president.

When the Ing children were old enough to go to school, Vera decided to go to school as well. She was about a generation older than most of her fellow students, but this didn’t stop her from earn-ing a bachelor of arts degree in urban planning. In fact, she was inspired by the student activists who attended school during the day and brought back their expertise to preserve and revitalize the International District—to fight for better housing, social services, arts and culture, street improve-ments, and restoration of historic buildings. With her background in urban planning and her affin-ity for the neighborhood of her childhood, Vera wanted to use her skills in the overall effort to preserve the International District.

During what she described as the “golden era of Asian activism,” from the 1970s through the mid 1980s, Vera became engaged in the preserva-tion on the International District. She joined the board of the International District Improvement Association (InterIm), today known as InterIm CDA, where she served alongside such com-munity leaders as Tomio Moriguchi, Ben Woo, Shigeko Uno, and Dolores Sibonga to support the leadership of Uncle Bob Santos and his young dedicated staff. Eventually Vera would serve as board president during a highly productive time for InterIm when demonstration projects such as a mental counseling project, a community clinic, a day-care project, and a tenant services project would lead to establishment of the Asian Counseling and Referral Service, International Community Health Services, the Denise Louie Education Center, and the International District Housing Alliance.

Vera also served on the board of the Seattle Chinatown International Dis-trict Preservation and Development Authority (SCID-pda). One of the functions of the SCIDpda, as a quasi-government agency, was to set aside funding for public arts. Vera took an active role in developing the public arts program—getting George Tsutakawa to create a bronze sculpture, which can still be enjoyed at the corner of Maynard and Jackson, and Gerry Tsutakawa to create a climbing dragon sculpture at the International Children’s Park.

In 1980, Vera coordinated the first Asian American art exhibition, “Made in America,” at the Wing Luke Museum. This show gave recog-nition not only to established artists like George Tsutakawa, Johsel Namkung, and Val Laigo, but also to lesser known artists (at the time) like Patti Warashima and Frank Fujii and up-and-coming artists such as Cheryll Leo-Gwin and Amy Ni-kaitani. Vera’s passion for art made her a natu-ral fit with the Wing Luke Museum, helping in expanding the vision of the Museum beyond the display of traditional oriental heirlooms to repre-senting the rich diversity found in Seattle’s Pan-Asian American communities.

In the early-1980s, Asian community leaders like Vera recognized the potential of the Pan-Asian community as a political force and sought viable candidates willing to run for office. Vera, whose appetite for politics was fed by the suc-cessful political campaigns of Gary Locke and Dolores Sibonga, thought, “Why not me?” She

found employment to get an insider’s view of the political process, first as a legislative aide to Seattle City Councilman Tim Hill, then as a leg-islative clerk for the State Democratic Caucus.

In 1984, Vera ran for the position of State Representative in the 37th Legislative District against the incumbent, John O’Brien, a man who then had served for more than 42 years in the State Legislature. With trusted confidante and political guru Ruth Woo serving as her cam-paign manager, Vera faced an uphill battle. Com-pared to O’Brien, Vera had no name familiarity. Needing to raise money, Vera was reluctantly dependent of the political donations made by her “Chinatown uncles and aunties.” She criss-crossed the 37th District, her family helped put up political signs, but it wasn’t enough. When the election was held, Vera split the reform vote with a third candidate and O’Brien, the incum-bent, won. While Vera had the overwhelming support of the Asian community, they didn’t live in her District. Although the itch to run again for office would surface from time to time, Vera would decide against it.

Despite the demoralizing loss, Vera bounced back and continued to find ways to serve the community. Vera wrote a column titled, “Dim Sum,” for both the Northwest Asian Weekly and the International Examiner, offering her perspec-tives on the issues and events of the day. She established the Prima Vera Arts Center for the Performing Arts that houses Pork-Filled Players and The Repertory Actors Theatre (ReAct). She was president of the North Seattle Community College Foundation Board and chairperson of the Bumbershoot Advisory Committee. She also served on the University of Washington’s Wom-en’s Center Advisory Committee, the Seattle Center Advisory Commission, and the Women Plus Business Advisory Committee. In 2010, she wrote her biography, Dim Sum, The Seattle ABC (American Born Chinese) Dream.

Throughout the years, Vera played the perfect hostess. She made her home available for meet-ings of all sorts, political fundraisers for favored candidates, and the legendary SeaFair hydroplane parties in the summer where folks could socialize and smooze or discuss and strategize. And Vera made sure that everyone had enough to eat.

Vera passed away on January 18, 2014 after a courageous battle with cancer. She is survived by her husband, Joey, her children, JaDeane, Joey, and Jeffrey, her grandchildren, Trevor, Jus-tine, Connor, and Carlyn, and sisters Mari and Helen. In looking over her accomplishments, the close-knit relationships she had with family and friends, the legacy she left in improving the qual-ity of life in our community, Vera would have said that she did live the Seattle American Born Chinese Dream.

Ing

Vera on the Steps of Chong Wa Be-nevolent Association, 1940s. Photo from her autobiography.

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER February 5, 2014 – February 18, 2014 — 3

IE COMMUNITY

COMMUNITY PROFILE

The International Examiner website is now updated daily. Visit iexaminer.org every day!

Travis QuezonIE Editor in Chief

On a snowy Friday morning, just before the holidays this past December, the International Examiner had the privilege of catching up with Elaine Ko, who was spending an emotional last day as a legislative assistant along with other staff for outgoing Seattle City Councilmember Richard Conlin.

Ko has served on the boards of the IE (when Ron Chew was editor in the ’80s), King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, the Corporate Volunteer Council, Puget Sound Directors of Volunteer Services, University of Washington Certification Program in Fundraising, Leave a Legacy, and the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras.

In addition, Ko participated in Leadership Tomorrow and has been awarded the Donor of the Year from College Planning Network and Outstanding Volunteer from Denise Louie Education Center.

Thirteen years ago, the IE spoke with Ko about her community activism and about being recently appointed to Conlin’s staff. Thirteen years later, we’ve come back full circle to talk about what Ko has been able to accomplish in City Hall on behalf of the API community, what challenges we face today, and what’s in store for the future.

International Examiner: The last time you spoke with the IE in 2000, you had just come on board as part of Councilmember Conlin’s staff. What’s it like to come full circle and reflect on things?

Elaine Ko: At the time, I said my commitment is really to make sure that folks in the community have their voices heard by Richard [Conlin], who is a very compassionate and very effective legislator.

I think to some degree, I feel very proud of a lot of things that have happened in terms of that.

I worked a lot on health and human service issues for Richard, many things related to domestic violence.

IE: In your time as a legislative assistant, you’ve championed issues for refugees and immigrant survivors of domestic abuse. What are you most proud of getting done and being a part of in these 13 years?

Ko: I think it’s those kinds of things, mak-ing sure folks, who don’t otherwise get in, talk to councilmembers. ... Whether it was mitiga-tion on all the work being done on the light rail [or other issues]. Sometimes those kinds of things get overlooked.

IE: How do you feel now that there’s been a change in the guard? What do you hope for for the API community in moving for-ward?

Ko: I think that there’s a lot of really good groundwork laid. I think with the new mayor coming in I think there’s been some great hires. I think the hiring of Hyeok [Kim as his deputy mayor for external affairs] is going to be fantastic. … I think [Murray] is going to continue listening and working on behalf of the API community.

It was kind of a rugged campaign [against then-incoming Councilmember Kshama Sawant].

IE: Are you relieved that there’s an un-expected break? Are you going to get to do some things that you’ve been looking for-ward to doing?

Ko: I think it’s a good break for me to really figure out what I want to do. I was fortunate because I was able to work on some policy, whether it was a library levy or working on healthcare. I did a forum in the council chambers on the Affordable Care Act. It was really crucial at the time last year to make sure different representatives of different communities were able to talk to folks about their concerns and about the needs of marginalized communities. We had Teresita Batayola and Odessa Brown. We had different speakers come in and talk about the issues they saw. I saw that as a really important thing to do. And I really feel fortunate that I was able to make sure those voices were heard in the chamber and that people were invited to come in and listen.

Looking at what it is I want to do next, I’m not really sure. But there’s always going to be a part of me that has a lot of interest and con-cern about, frankly, this community and what happens in the API community and making sure those voices are heard and that they’re part of the bigger picture and that their needs are met. And there’s some incredible people in this community.

IE: Do you have any goals for 2014?Ko: I’m just going to take some time and

figure out what I’m going to do.

IE: The ways in which the API community addresses its struggles are quite different today than it was at the height of the civil rights movement, or even 13 years ago. What would you say are some of the biggest challenges for the API community?

Ko: I think it’s the torch being passed. It’s making sure that you have the younger folks who are also going to be involved, whether it’s in JACL or some of these other organizations that they continue on because, you know, [the work] is never finished. In some ways it’s easier because you do have folks like [Hyeok Kim] who are now part of the so called establishment, which is so wonderful. On the other hand you don’t want to forget the needs of refugee and immigrant folks who need to be heard.

Elaine Ko reflects on 13 years as a Seattle City Council legislative aid

Asian Pacific American activist Faaluaina (Lua) Pritchard bangs the gong during a “lobby day” at the state capital in Olympia, 1999. • Photo by Dean Wong

Ko


IE NEWS

Asian Pacific Islander Coalition outlines 2014 legislative agendaBy Vowel ChuIE Contributor

Members of the Asian Pacific Islander Coalition (APIC) have taken the stance that the government needs to not only raise the minimum wage to $12 but also close loopholes that allow companies to shirk their responsibilities for providing health coverage within the Affordable Care Act. At a community briefing on January 21, APIC discussed how they would incorporate these priorities into its legislative agenda. About 40 people attended the meeting.

Diane Narasaki, the executive director of Asian Counseling and Referral Service, and eight other speakers talked about the APIC agenda, which included API related interests pertaining to minimum wage, education, paid sick leave, and healthcare.

Because of loopholes in the Affordable Care Act, some large companies’ employers are cutting employee hours under the threshold for the health insurance requirement so as to make these low-wage employees get Medicaid or seek taxpayer subsidized coverage through the state health exchange, according to APIC.

Tony Lee, an APIC member and the director of Solid Ground Advocacy, also outlined issues related to the K-12 opportunity and achievement gap (the significant difference in educational performance between groups of students).

According to the group’s agenda package, low-income students, students of color, and

English language learners are dropping out of school at unacceptable rates and achieving at a lower level than Caucasian students.

Washington has the 12th-worst opportunity gap in the United States. It’s also one of the few states where that gap is still widening, according to APIC.

“This is a very large subject, obviously,” said Lee. “A lot of our Southeast Asian kids are not doing well. So I think the first message to legislators is that we have issues in our community that need to be addressed.”

The agenda suggests that the state needs to improve the existing Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program for refugee and immigrant children who don’t speak English. The agenda also directs the state to require schools that have opportunity gaps to provide quality expanded learning opportunities, according to the package.

Tatsuko Go Hollo, policy associate of the Economic Opportunity Institute, talked about the “Shared Prosperity” agenda that would address problems such as wage theft, unpaid sick days, and loopholes in the Affordable Care Act.

Some employers are denying wages that workers deserve and paying less than what has been agreed, according to APIC.

The group wants the state government to pass legislation that would solve the wage theft problem by permitting courts to triple damages for wage theft, implementing electronic certified payroll, and protecting workers from retaliation.

APIC also wants the government to pass paid sick days legislation, which Seattle has already passed, in order to create a statewide standard.

Lastly, it recommends increasing the minimum wage from $9.32 per hour to $12 per hour within the next two years.

Ron Chew, director of the ICHS Foundation, also touched on an agenda to fund the International Community Health Service. The service is the largest non-profit Asian and Pacific Islander health care organization in Washington state, and it’s scheduled to open a clinic in Shoreline in August this year. The clinic will be the first non-profit community clinic in Shoreline.

“Construction is moving forward very, very quickly,” Chew said. “The fundraising has been going slow. We were hoping and will continue to pursue a $5 million request from the state to help with the construction cost.”

APIC will bring the issues highlighted in its legislative agenda to the forefront on Asian Pacific American Legislative Day.

From left to right: APIC members Lua Pritchard, Tony Lee, Ron Chew, and Diane Narasake at a January 21 community briefing. Visit iexaminer.org for more photos and audio of the briefing. • Photo by Vowel Chu


IE NEWS

Still uninsured? It’s not too late, ICHS can help with ‘Obamacare’By Atia Musazay

IE Contributor

Rollout of President Barrack Obama’s new health care law is in full effect and this means everybody must sign up for health insurance or face penalties after March 31.

While Washington has a higher number of enrollees in its state exchange program compared to other states, many people have reported issues accessing and navigating the online marketplace known as Healthplanfinder (wahealthplanfinder.org). For many Asian Pacific Americans in Seattle’s International District, the challenges have been magnified due to language barriers and unfamiliarity with the new system.

The International Community Health Services and several other organizations are offering free resources to those struggling to navigate Healthplanfinder and the confusion about the Affordable Care Act.

“The primary obstacle that we have come across is that obviously the website is not available in any Asian and Pacific Islander languages,” said Michael McKee, director of Health Services and Community Partnerships at ICHS. The site is only available in English and Spanish.

Other obstacles are the result of complex citizenship statuses. For many immigrant families, family members have different residency statuses. For instance, the children in the family could be citizens while the parents are legal citizens who have not been here long enough to be eligible for Apple Health/Medicaid.

“There’s a number of different types of scenarios that can play out, including one

parent may be documented and one may not be,” McKee said.

It can sometimes take more than 60 minutes and multiple visits to the ICHS to get coverage, McKee said. Somehow, McKee explained, “everyone was surprised” by the heavy demand for in-person assisters and the call center. The Washington Health Benefit Exchange, which administers the newly created online health insurance marketplace doubled their call center staff in December to meet the need.

To meet the high volume of demand locally, Public Health Seattle and King County as well as the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations helped fund in-person assisters who can speak Asian and Pacific Islander languages to provide help at the clinic.

When the new health legislation, commonly referred to as “Obamacare,” was signed into law in 2010, the ramifications of it were confusing not only for the API population but for everyone, McKee said. He described how some people in the community thought “Obamacare was a health insurance plan that they could just sign up for.”

There was also confusion on understanding that the Healthplanfinder offered many choices of health plans to suit the needs of the customer.

In January, the state Exchange enrolled more than 323,000 in health plans since the website was launched on October 1. Of these, about 237,000 are newly eligible for Medicaid as a result of the state’s expansion of Medicaid, another result of Obamacare.

In total, ICHS reports they have enrolled over 3,200 people and have assisted more than 6,000 in starting applications and providing education and outreach.

“Overall this has been successful in terms of the number of people trying to enroll in insurance,” said Abbie Zahler, Health Advocacy Manager at ICHS. “We just wanted folks to know that there’s still time and there’s help if they need it.”

People seeking assistance on getting enrolled for health insurance can also visit the Asian Counseling and Referral Services, Chinese Information and Service Center, and the Denise Louie Education Center.

If you need assistance and want to visit ICHS, walk-ins are welcome. However, it’s recommended that you call (206) 788-3700 for an appointment due to high demand for

in-person assisters. ICHS also recommends visitors bring this information with them to successfully sign up for insurance via the Healthplanfinder:

• Identification• Date of Birth• Valid Social Security number• Estimated proof of income• Passport and/or Green Card number• Debit card, credit card, or e-check For a list of all public events in King County

seeking to assist people signing up for health insurance, visit http://goo.gl/3YLsvT.

The International Community Health Services (ICHS) offers free help to Washington residents to enroll or answer questions about health coverage options through Washington Healthplanfinder.

Enrollment appointment dates at ICHS are already scheduled out to the end of February 2014 but the agency is training additional staff to meet the growing demand for this service.

This free service is part of a national outreach strategy led by the Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF), Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO), Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles (Advancing Justice-LA), and Asian Americans Advancing Justice-AAJC (Advancing Justice-AAJC) to enroll as many qualified Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders as possible. This effort is also supported locally by Public Health –Seattle and King County.

ICHS is a one-stop health care agency that offers quality and affordable health services—including medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy, outreach and healthy living assistance—in more than 50 languages and dialects. On average, the agency sees about 19,000 unduplicated patients a year.

Last day to enroll in health insurance is March 31, 2014. Failure to get coverage may result in fines. Visit wahealthplanfinder.org for more information or to enroll on your own. To avail of the free service for enrollment assistance, call ICHS at (206) 788-3700 to set an appointment.

ICHS offers free help to enroll in new health insurance

ICHS is training staff to handle the high volume of people who need help with health insurance. • Courtesy Photo

ICHS team members in charge of doing healthcare enrollment work. • Courtesy Photo


IE NEWS

ICHS’ Nakano joins Washington Health Benefit Exchange Board

IE News ServicesThe International Community Health

Services (ICHS) board secretary Hiroshi Nakano was recently appointed to the Washington Health Benefit Exchange Board.

As a member of the board, Nakano said in a statement that he wants “to make sure that the Exchange stays responsive to the consumer and provides the broadest possible access to the public, especially to vulnerable and underserved populations and those who have difficulty accessing the website.”

The Washington Health Benefit Exchange was created in 2011 as a “public-private partnership” separate and distinct from the state. The Exchange is responsible for the creation of Washington Healthplanfinder, an online marketplace for individuals, families, and small businesses to find, compare, and enroll in qualified health insurance plans. The Exchange is governed by an 11-member Board comprised of a chair and eight members appointed by the governor from nominees put forward by each of the legislative caucuses.

“We still have the issue of providing broader language access to the Exchange,” Nakano said. “At the current time there are no plans to add Asian languages to the Healthplanfinder website, but it’s being studied. An open question is how we maintain good outreach to the public, especially for hard-to-reach populations. Other challenges include the ability of patients eligible for expanded Medicaid coverage of being able to choose their own health plan and providers, and the long-term sustainability of the Exchange.”

Nakano is the Chief Executive Officer of NeoSpine, a spine surgery and pain management practice based in Puyallup, with additional offices in Seattle and Poulsbo.

Nakano has been with ICHS for 16 years, serving in a variety of leadership positions on the board and working as a consultant to ICHS in the past. He has been associated with community health centers going back to 1978. Nakano, a native of Fife, Washington earned his undergraduate degree in Sociology from the University of Washington and his MBA at Cornell University.

ANNOUNCEMENT

Nakano

API flu info at a glance• According to the Office of Minority Health, 56 percent of APIs received flu shots in 2011, compared to 53 percent of whites.

• At the International Community Health Services (ICHS) in Seattle’s International District, 31 percent of its clients (about 8,000 individuals) received flu shots through ICHS since September 2013.

• According to ICHS Operating Director Sherman Lohn, it’s not an unusual flu season. Plenty of vaccines are available to the API community. One peculiar note, however, is that this season’s flu is affecting healthier people.

• Non-English speakers usually do not get translated flu info unless there is an outbreak.

Please share your concerns, your solutions, and your voices. Send a letter to the editor to [email protected] with the subject line “Letter to the Editor.”

YOUR OPINION COUNTS

Staff at the “ID Clinic”—aka International District Community Health Center. Pictured are Eli Rose Eugenio, Linda Eng, and Mee Lee. • Photo courtesy of International Community Health Services (ICHS), 1990


Sponsored by:

By Dr. Melet WhinstonAmerigroup Washington

Chief Medical Officer

The flu season is here and making its rounds across Washington. Take precautions to keep yourself and your family healthy by getting a flu shot—your best defense against the virus, as it can strike when you least expect it.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 5-20 percent of the U.S. population gets the seasonal flu. More than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications every year. While the CDC and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommend everyone more than six months of age get a vaccine each flu season, some people are at a higher risk for serious health complications and should receive the vaccine as early as possible, including:

• Patients age 65 or older• Children age 6 months-18 years• Women who are pregnant or expect to

become pregnant• Patients with certain chronic diseases

and illnesses Does this sound like you?

I am afraid the flu shot isn’t safe or will make me sick.

You can’t get the flu from a flu shot. Talk to your doctor about your concerns.

I don’t know where to go to get a flu shot.

Tips and Tricks: Avoiding the Flu this Season

Call your Primary Care Provider (PCP), local health department or clinic.

I am healthy, so I don’t think I need a flu shot.

Even healthy people can get the flu. A mild case of the flu can make you feel awful and you can pass it to others. By protecting yourself, you can help protect them, too.

I am too busy or can’t take time to go for a flu shot.

Some clinics or PCP offices may offer flu shots after hours or on weekends. Consider how much time you’d lose or what you’d miss if you or your child got sick.

I don’t like needles or shots. Ask your PCP about the nasal-spray flu

vaccine.

Take precautions to prevent the flu this season by avoiding close contact with infected people, keeping hands away from the face, washing hands with soap and water, getting plenty of sleep, being physically active, managing stress, drinking plenty of liquids, and eating nutritious foods. Anyone with flu symptoms should contact their health care practitioner immediately to start antiviral treatment.

For more information about the dangers of flu and the benefits of vaccinations, talk to a health care practitioner or visit www.cdc.gov/flu.

By Finley HinesAmerigroup

Q: Tell me about the evolution of Apple Health since you’ve worked in the industry?

A: Amerigroup began serving Wash-ingtonians through the state’s Medicaid program in 2012. At that time, the Health Care Author-ity added three new health plans to Apple Health with a prima-ry focus to improve access to providers and ensure individuals and families received the best care coordination possible. The five health plans in Apple Health all strive to improve qual-ity and outcomes, while at the same time ensur-ing taxpayer dollars are spent as efficiently as possible. There’s been a tremendous amount of change in health care over the last two years, and there’s still much more to come in the months ahead. With Medicaid expansion, implementa-tion of new initiatives like “health homes” will

By Finley HinesAmerigroup

Amerigroup Washington strives to improve the quality of life in the communities around the state. Through its Foundation and Community Volunteers program, the company has helped a growing number of members and programs throughout the country, focusing on community improvement and encouraging safe and healthy children, families, and individuals of all ages. Since its inception, the Foundation has contributed more than $16.7 million to various organizations across the country— including more than $60,000 to Washington organizations.

Amerigroup places a strong emphasis on being active in the communities in which it serves. This past year, the company supported a number of organizations both through volunteerism efforts and Foundation support across the state. Amerigroup sponsored the Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS) 40th Anniversary Auction and Gala and joined the Seattle community in celebration of the Asian culture. ACRS places a strong emphasis on helping the under-served reach their highest levels of self-sufficiency. At the 2013 Gala, the audience had the privilege of hearing a courageous young woman tell her story of substance abuse, distorted cultural values, and

how her ACRS case manager helped her succeed beyond her wildest dreams.

“The Gala is our biggest night of the year, and thanks in part to our Legacy Sponsor Amerigroup, we are able to continue to provide the services that lead to positive stories of resilience and inspiration,” said Joyce Zhou, event organizer and former-ACRS development director. “We were thrilled our 2013 Gala raised more than $260,000 to help support King County’s Asian and Pacific Islander community to find strength to push through adversity while maintaining their dignity and heritage.”

Additional Amerigroup support included sponsorship of the International Commu-nity Health Services’ (ICHS) 40th An-niversary Bloom Gala in Seattle. ICHS is a nonprofit community health center that offers affordable multilingual health care services to Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pa-cific Islander communities, as well as other underserved communities.

Amerigroup continues to provide ongoing health education presentations for the Asian community on the importance of well-child checkups and immunizations, healthy eating, prevention of lead poisoning for children, and education on reading food labels.

help to provide better care for members with mul-tiple chronic conditions, and discussion of better integration of physical and behavioral health care services. It is an exciting time in Apple Health.

Q: Could you speak a bit about Medicaid expansion in Washington and the effect it’s having on your company?

A: Medicaid expansion has had a tremendous impact on our state’s health care system. Today, many individuals, who otherwise wouldn’t have health insurance without the Affordable Care Act, have access to care; to providers who serve them; and to health plans, like ours, who coordi-nate their care and services. At the start of the year, our membership effectively doubled, which required a significant amount of preparation to ensure we had the resources available to care for our members. We have hired additional nurses and social workers to help our members navi-gate the health system, and our dedicated team works to connect our members to providers in a timely manner. We have also spent a tremendous amount of time expanding our provider network so our members have access to primary care and specialty physicians, naturopaths, clinics and hospitals when necessary.

Q: What is the greatest challenge you face with your members?

A: Our members come from diverse back-grounds and are eligible for Medicaid through different programs. Many of our members are financially vulnerable, which can impact their ability to access the care they need. Schedul-ing a doctor’s appointment becomes less of a priority when someone is struggling to pay rent or buy groceries. Amerigroup is committed to identifying an individual’s needs and tailoring care based on those specific needs.

Q: In addressing the shortage of health care professionals, do Asian Pacific Islander immigrants play a role in filling the gap? How can we better take advantage of the Asian Pacific Islander workforce as a resource?

A: From what I have observed about the Asian Pacific Islander (API) culture, they are very connected to their local community and have the ability to help fill the shortage of health care professionals. There are many re-spected leaders within the API community that are taking on the role of health care advocates and case managers in order to educate and pro-

vide information to their local community. These individuals are not only leaders within their own communities, but also function as peers to help recent immigrants navigate the health care system and connect to available resources.

Q: There are major disparities in effec-tive health care and data for Native Ha-waiians and Pacific Islanders. What needs to be done in order to address this? How can health care providers help Native Ha-waiians and Pacific Islanders to overcome barriers to health care?

A: While I am not an expert in this area, I do believe that the first step to address-ing health care disparities is to acknowl-edge that these barriers exist. Once there is awareness about these issues, we can then focus on learning best practices around pro-viding culturally sensitive treatment. One way to learn about this is by seeking con-sultation and training from community lead-ers and continuing education on culturally and linguistically appropriate approaches to care.

Amerigroup stays active in the community

Amerigroup at ACRS’ 40th Anniversary Benefit Gala Auction. Left to right: Marketing Director David Escame, Vice President of Operations Jessica Cromer, Plan President Daryl Edmonds with wife Tomma Edmonds, Marketing Representative Wendy Cho Ripp, and Vice President of Provider Relations Kimberly Russell.

Executive Q&A with Amerigroup Washington President Daryl Edmonds

Edmonds


Sponsored by:

By Torri CandaAmerigroup

The prevalence for diabetes has steadi-ly increased over the years, not only in Washington, but the American Diabetes Association estimates nationally one in fi ve health care dollars is spent on dia-betic care. Education is the key to fi ght-ing diabetes at an early age. Amerigroup Washington is taking initiative, making strides toward combatting the disease with its innovative child-friendly pro-gram.

“Walk the Walk, Talk the Talk, See Your Doc!” is an educational program designed by Amerigroup Washington for children ages 6-11 to help relay the risks and reali-ties of diabetes via exercise and games.

The hour-long program has three com-ponents:

• Exercise (the walk)

• Educating children on information about diabetes (the talk)

• Encouraging children to get their an-nual checkups (the doc)

“We combine exercise with education and fi nd ourselves skipping, crab walk-ing and jumping around alongside the children,” said Torri Canda, Amerigroup Washington Health Promotions man-

ager. “The educational aspect is focused on discussing factors, early warning signs and complications of diabetes, and how to prevent the disease through exercise and healthy eating.”

The children participate in activities including “food fi nd” puzzles where they fi nd healthy foods hidden within a picture and question and answer activi-ties where kids answer questions about healthy food options.

While it is extremely important to educate children on the importance of healthy eating and exercise, it’s just as important to make sure the parents are well informed too.

“We send the children home with information on issues we’ve discussed throughout our time together, and stress the importance of regular checkups—encouraging kids and parents to be proactive about their own health,” said Canda.

Upon completion, the children re-ceive a Captain Amerigroup food place-mat and a t-shirt upon completion.

If you are interested in having a “Walk the Walk! Talk the Talk! See Your Doc!” presentation in your community, please contact Torri Canda 206-695-7081 or [email protected].

Diabetes: Walk the Walk! Talk the Talk! See Your Doc!

By Travis QuezonIE Editor in Chief

David Escame relocated with his family from Texas to Washington last year to take on the role of Amerigroup Washington Director of Marketing. Escame is a very proud Filipino American with strong Seattle roots. He is half Filipino and half Mexican, Irish, Dutch, and Welsh. The International Examiner spoke with Escame about reestablishing a connection with the community.

International Examiner: Please describe your role working with Seattle’s diverse Asian Pacifi c Islander (API) community?

David Escame: With Medicaid expansion in full swing, my team has been working to-ward educating the API community on the eligibility requirements and benefi ts of Med-icaid, relaying information that is both cultur-ally and linguistically relevant. Amerigroup Washington employees are active in the state engaging both in educational and philan-thropic endeavors, and fully committed to creating healthy happy communities.

IE: It’s quite a move to be coming back to the Northwest from Texas. Is there a distinct approach to your work in the communities here in Seattle specifi cally?

Escame: Washington and Texas are very unique, as both regions are made up of di-verse multi-generational families. In Seattle, the API community makes up a huge fabric of the community at large. There are families that have been here for decades who are now prominent politicians, business owners, edu-cators and philanthropists, just to name a few. The community relations fi eld, independent of the geographic location, has one primary goal: to be able to relate to the population in which you serve. It is essential to be inter-active in the local community and listen to members and their families, so that you may serve each to the best of your ability.

IE: The Amerigroup offi ces keep you close to the International District on a daily basis. What have you learned about

the neighborhood since moving back to Seattle?

Escame: I spent a lot of time in the International Dis-trict growing up. Our family would go to King Café (now the location of Wing Luke Museum) for dim sum every other weekend—a tradi-tion my siblings and I have passed on to our children. I remember taking my Lolo and Lola to Tai Tung for birthday dinners, and buying rice candy at Uwaijamaya. Although it seems like so many neighborhoods in Se-attle have changed, the International District has kept its soul. Change is inevitable, but the character and history of the International District live on.

IE: You are an avid outdoorsman. How have you and your family adapted to the move from Texas?

Escame: I love to be outdoors, and there is no better place than the Northwest for enjoying outdoor activities. My wife often describes the mountains, water, and natural beauty we’re surrounded by as truly epic. We have been island hopping to Kingston, Whidbey, and Vashon, playing soccer, spending a lot of time on the beach, and running through woods at Lincoln Park. We plan on heading up to the mountains very soon—and this spring, I hope to blow the dust of the ol’ bicycle.

IE: Is there anything else you’d like to let our readers know?

Escame: My family has roots here. My mom attended West Seattle High School and my dad attended Garfi eld. My parents will read this feature and I want them both to know that they are a huge reason we came back. We wanted our children to know their grandparents and I’m blessed to have such amazing parents. Pio and Aurora Escame, you are amazing and I love you!

Go RB Vikings! Go Sounders! Go Hawks! 1-800-600-4441 ■ www.myamerigroup.com/wa

Captain Amerigroup says,

“ Can you find the hidden foods that are part of the five food groups?”

The five food groups that keep your body healthy and fit are fruits, vegetables, whole grains, meats and dairy. Can you find these foods in your neighborhood?

• Cheese

• Apple

• Oatmeal

• Banana

• Orange

• Shrimp

• Broccoli

• Fish

• Milk carton

• Chicken leg

• Carrot

• Egg

Amerigroup is a culturally diverse company. We welcome all eligible individuals into our health care programs, regardless of health status. If you have questions or concerns, please call 1-800-600-4441 (TTY 1-800-855-2880) and ask for extension 34925. Or visit www.myamerigroup.com.

Amerigroup’s David Escame comes home, reconnects with Seattle

Escame

David Escame and family. Left to right: Stella (5), Pamela, David, Max (8).


www.myamerigroup.com/wa

Medicaid is expanding. Do you qualify?

With Medicaid expanding, more people can get covered.

Newly eligible people are age 19 up to age 65 who: n Have income below 138% of the Federal

Poverty Level n �Meet�citizenship�requirements

n Are�not�incarcerated�(in�prison)n �Are�not�entitled�to�Medicaren Are not currently eligible for Medicaid

Medicaid eligibility* You�probably�qualify�for�Medicaid/Apple�Health�If�your�family’s�income�is�at�or�less�than�the�figures�below.� You�can�apply�beginning�October�1,�2013.�If�accepted,�your�coverage�begins�January�1,�2014.

One person

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$15,856 $21,404� $26,951 $32,499� $38,049� $43,596� $49,142� $54,689�

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*�Beginning�October�1,�2013.�If�you�applied�for�Medicaid�before�October�1,�this� chart�does�not�apply�to�you.�See�hca.wa.gov�for�information.

Amerigroup�is�a�culturally�diverse�company.�We�welcome�all�eligible�individuals�into�our�health�care�programs,�regardless�of�health�status.�If�you�have�questions�or�concerns,�please�call�1-800-600-4441�(TTY�1-800-855-2880)�and�ask�for�extension�34925.�Or�visit�www.myamerigroup.com.�

Get the plan that fits.Have questions? We’re ready to help you every step of the way! Call Amerigroup today at 1-800-600-4441.

To find out more about Medicaid eligibility: n Call 1-855-WAFINDER (1-855-923-4633) TTY/TTD 1-855-627-9604 or

n Go online at WAhealthplanfinder.org

For�members�who�do�not�

speak�English,�we�offer�free�oral�

interpretation�services�for�all�

languages.�If�you�need�these�

services,�call�Member�Services�

toll�free�at�1-800-600-4441�

(TTY�1-800-855-2880).�WAM

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IE COMMUNITY

Congratulations Seattle Seahawks 2014 Superbowl Champs!12th Man: A Special Tribute

Submitted by Thu-An Nguyen

Submitted by Dung Nguyen

Submitted by Brandon Diersch Submitted by Huyen Hoang

Submitted by My-Hong Truong Submitted by Nga Nguyen

Submitted by James Lovell

Submitted by Thuy-Vi Nguyen Submitted by of Mimi Hong

Submitted by Linda Hoang


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DONATE to NAFCON’S

Typhoon Relief Program

For info on how to donate,

visit nafconusa.org.

Asian Impressions: Instagram photographer promotes natural beauty of Asian women

By Vowel ChuIE Contributor

Teban Smith is an amateur photographer, but his Instagram feed is much more.

Smith uploads photos of Asian women and couples through his Instagram account, “Asian_Impressions” every day and it has already attracted more than 20,000 followers.

His photos on Instagram, which are either candid or posed, captured more than just smiles or the peace hand signs. With the use of bokeh, which refers to the intentional blurriness added to the background, and captions posted along with every photo, Smith also brought the subjects’ stories, emotions or even personalities to his audiences.

To Smith (which is not his real last name), “Asian_Impressions” is more than just an Instagram account. He wants to encourage natural beauty through every photograph he posts there.

“There’s a lot of bullying that goes on. There’s a lot of pressure to fit in,” said Smith, who prefers to keep his identity hidden. “Particularly within the Asian culture, there’s a lot of plastic surgery that goes on. There’s a lot of nose jobs, eye jobs, whatever to try to make themselves look what they think is beautiful.”

The 40-year-old Smith, who was born in Hawaii, moved to Seattle about 15 years ago. Before getting popular on Instagram, Smith didn’t realize this would give him power to influence others. With this power, he decided to encourage not only natural beauty, but also self-respect and confidence in young Asian girls, he said.

Smith’s inspiration for this ethnically based photography project came from his first trip to Japan. After visiting Kyoto, where he wanted to see the site that the story of Memory of Geisha took place, he stopped by Tokyo.

It was also his first time visiting Tokyo. All the stylish and fashionable people he saw on the street surprised him, he said. He took a lot of photos and uploaded them to Flickr, a popular image and video hosting website among photographers.

Smith’s photos caught many Flickr users’ eyes. So he flew to Tokyo again and took more. It was also around the time when he was contacted by one Japanese woman.

She told Smith about her daughter, who was modelling at the time. She felt like the photos she was taking didn’t represent her daughter’s true beauty.

“She said that she really liked the way I captured [the] essence of the people on the street and so she asked me if I would do a photoshoot with her daughter,” Smith said.

After seeing the photos Smith took for her, the woman’s daughter thought she looked “most like herself” in them, Smith said. Meanwhile, she told Smith, most western media have represented Asian girls very differently from the way that Asian girls see themselves.

After a couple years, Asian Impressions has become so popular that there is now a list of people who come from all over the world waiting for a photoshoot with him.

Fenny Yolanda, 25, is no longer one of those waiting. Smith did a photoshoot with her in Singapore not long ago.

“Normally photographers always made me so tired and I feel not so me. But with Asian Impressions I just didn’t feel anything except fun and easy,” Yolanda said in an email. “[Smith] teaches me how to appreciate ourselves with all the beauty that we have [and] not to [compare].”

Cindy Yip, 20, has also done photoshoots with Smith and followed his Instagram for a while.

“Before having had the chance to work with him, I never liked having full body shots and always veered towards taking head shots only,” said Yip. “Now, I am a lot more confident and am always wanting to take a full body shot.”

Smith talked about Yip’s changes during the interview too. He was surprised, he said, by the influence his photography has brought.

“I regularly look through my lens and see beauty at the other end,” said Smith. “And it is nice to be able to produce photographs that are enjoyed and considered beautiful by others. But my true sense of accomplishment comes from those same photographs allowing a young woman to gain confidence enough in herself to see and appreciate her own beauty.”

Images from Teban’s Instagram


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The Boys of Summer are taking it to the limit ONE MORE TIME in a spectacular tribute to the ultimate Classic Rock band, The Eagles! You can catch the action live in Club Galaxy, where admission is always free! Your Classic Rock, your tribute show!Entertainment subject to change without notice. Management reserves all rights.

FEBRUARY 28AT 7PM

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Commentary: Hollywood shuns Asians, while new media embraces themBy Andrew Lam

New America MediaIn a recent New Yorker cartoon, a dog is

shown lounging by a pool and saying to a pup: “Youtube’s one thing, but cats will never make it on the big screen.” A funny commentary, surely, but in America that statement could just as easily be applied to ethnic minorities, espe-cially Asian Americans.

Cats and Asian Americans reign supreme on Youtube, but in Hollywood it’s another story: Discrimination, stereotypes, and exclusion are the norm for Asians, both on television and the silver screen. The most recent evidence of this came during the Golden Globe awards ceremony, where viewers were hard pressed to fi nd an Asian face in the audience, let alone an Asian name among the nominees. The TV camera showed fl ashes of the marvelous Lucy Liu and comedian Ansari Aziz, as if trying to make sure that these two “cats” would some-how make up for the lack of Asian diversity. This year’s Oscar nominations offer another example. Not one name, with the exception of Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, nominated in the Best Animated Feature Film category, is an Asian name.

As for racist stereotypes, just take for ex-ample the recent episode of How I Met Your Mother, a CBS sitcom, in which white actors put on yellow face like Fu Man Chu and spoke in exaggerated Chinese accents. The producers called it a tribute to kung fu, but Asian Ameri-cans took to their twitter feeds and called it out for what it is: pure racism.

Here are a few of the comments that were posted under the hashtag, #HowIMetYour-Racism:

#HowI MetY-ourRacism is latest in long line of fi lm & TV that some-how still fi nds it okay—no, fi nds it hilarious—to overtly caricature Asians.

@CBS With so few Asian Americans on TV and movies, has anything really changed since the 1920s? #HowIMetYourRacism

#HowIMetYourRacism. “Yellowface? Ori-entalism? Fu Manchu? What Not okay @cbs.”

Wow, @HIMYM_CBS @CBS, your racist mockery of Asian people and culture is…wait for it…LEGENDARY! #HowIMetYourRacism

In this day and age it would be unthinkable for white actors to wear black face and make fun of, say, ebonics. The repercussions would be swift, and heads would surely roll. But put-ting on a yellow face is another matter—racist parodies of Asians somehow remain okay and acceptable in the imaginations of producers and writers.

Asians, furthermore, remain foreign enough within U.S. pop culture that such depictions go

largely un-castigated—unless there is a public reaction strong enough to force the offend-ers, as was the case with the “How I Met Your Mother” debacle, to apologize.

That the show’s producers apologized at all is thanks largely to social media, which ampli-fi es otherwise unheard-from populations and creates an equal playing fi eld for ethnic minor-ities. In this realm, indeed, Asian Americans (and cats) dominate.

The reigning king of Youtube, for example, is the biggest cat of all—Korean pop sensation, Psy, has garnered nearly 2 billion views of his music video for the worldwide smash, “Gang-nam Style,” and his follow-up single, “Gentle-man,” has been seen by 625 million viewers. Psy is Korean and not Korean American, but his rise to success is giving hope to an army of would be Asian American entertainers.

Sam Tsui, for instance, who is half Chinese, is a bonafi de Internet star, with an incredible vocal range. His rendition of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” is nearing the 34 million mark on Youtube, and his version of “Just A Dream” with Christina Grimmie, another Youtube sensation, has a whopping 74 million hits. His large following online would make most pro-fessional artists turn green with envy.

Another Asian Youtube star of note, David Choi, began singing in his bedroom, often with cow-licked hair, but ended up being a guest on various TV shows, writing songs for Warner/Chappell Music, releasing three albums to date, and going on tour around the US and Asia. Then there’s Ryan Higa, who started out making silly skits with his friends in Hawaii only to eventually become a Youtube super-star. His videos average over 30 million hits each. He even produced and starred in two short fi lms that sold out theaters in Hawaii and California.

And it’s not just on Youtube and social me-dia that Asian Americans are making inroads. From the get-go, New Media forms have pro-vided an opening for people of color, in terms of their representation in the media. This is especially true of “reality TV” programs—American Idol, Survivor and Top Chef among them. And Asian Americans don’t just get on reality TV shows—many of them actually win:

Jun Song won on Big Brother, Yul Kwon won Survivor, Kat Chang won The Amazing Race, Poreontics, an all-Asian troupe, won America’s Best Dance Crew, and Aarti Seque-ria won The Next Food Network Star, just to name a few.

Of particular note are Vietnamese Ameri-cans, a group barely visible in American pop culture, who have nevertheless taken many top honors. Chloe Dao sewed her way to the top in Project Runway; Hung Huynh won on Top Chef, using fi sh sauce as the base ingredient. Last Comic Standing got Dat Phan, a Vietnam-ese American who made fun of, what else, his

mother’s accent. Christine Ha, a blind Viet-namese home cook, whose soup made tough-as-nails Gordon Ramsey tear up, won the Mas-ter Chef competition, while Hung Huynh took Top Chef gold in Season 3.

Despite the success of Asians on Youtube and Reality TV, Asian American actors fi nd scant roles in Hollywood scripts, and when they do they are often mindless, simplistic ste-reotypes. In a recent article in Policymic.com titled, “Why Asians are Fleeing Hollywood,” Dana Ter noted: “Whereas Asian-Americans are often times consigned to stereotypical roles in Hollywood, their biculturalism is an asset in Asia. As such, Asia has become the new Land of Opportunity for Asian-Americans trying to make it in the entertainment industry.”

One Asian American actor who gave up Hollywood and went to Hong Kong, where her parents were from, once told me that, “Hol-lywood loves to adopt Asian babies. They just don’t put them in their movies.” Angelina Jolie, Julie Andrews and Mia Farrow are just a few of the famous actors who adopted Asian chil-dren. Woody Allen, she said, “found it easier to marry his Korean stepdaughter than to put her in a movie.”

The bamboo ceiling exists, and it’s a bitter reality.

One is reminded of it constantly, such as when Mirai Nagasu, who took third place at the U.S. National Figure Skating Champion-ships, was overlooked by the U.S. Figure Skat-ing (USFS) committee, which selected Ashley Wagner, who came in fourth place, to compete in the Winter Olympics.

“USFS has never in history ignored the re-sults of the Nationals in picking its Olympic athletes when injury was not a factor,” noted Jeff Yang on the Wall Street Journal. “But if Wagner’s ‘all-American’ looks played any role in her selection—and of course, we’ll probably never really know—the real irony is this: blue-eyed, blonde Wagner was born in Heidelberg, Germany. Nagasu, meanwhile, was born in Montebello, Calif.”

Or take the case of the Jimmy Kimmel Live show in which Kimmel engaged in a roundta-ble with children regarding the United States’ $1.3-trillion debt to China. When one of the kids suggested that the U.S. should “kill every-one in China,” Kimmel responded by saying, “That’s an interesting idea.” He later apolo-gized after massive protests by Chinese Amer-icans. (If the child had said, “kill all black people,” the segment most likely would never have been aired, but never mind.)

And yet, for all that bitterness, there’s the opportunity for exposure provided by New Media. For those who like to watch cats on Youtube, there’s always a steady stream of new talent. And while they may not be signing big Hollywood deals, they are creating a kind of horizontal, post-modern conversation that is challenging the Hollywood notion of what tal-ent looks and sounds like. These social media and reality personalities are beyond anything imagined by the big money producers, and they are giving old Hollywood a run for its money.

Some “dog and cat” videos on Youtube are counterintuitive in that the animals convey a close relationship, getting along splendid-ly—cuddling, playing and sleeping together. Those videos offer a reminder that the ten-sion between dogs and cats exists primarily in the mind, and in stereotypes. In that respect, Hollywood could certainly learn a lesson from watching Youtube.

How I met your mother


IE NEWS

What’s your dish?The IE wants to know what your favorite dish is in the Interna-tional District. 1) Take a pic. 2) Say what it is, where you got it, and how much it costs. 3) Send it in to [email protected] with the subject line “ID Dish.”

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The Washington State Convention Center (WSCC), located in downtown Seattle, is accepting applications for the position of Security Manager. Responsible for managing the secu-rity and safety of the facility and its surrounding exterior areas inclusive of staff, guests, equipment and WSCC property. Supervise the security staff and coordinate with event clients’ sub-contracted security staff. Work closely with all WSCC departments, service partners, Seattle Police Department, Seattle Fire Department, and other relevant international, federal, state and local law enforcement/security re-lated agencies.

Required Qualifications: Bachelor’s Degree (B.A.) from four-year college or university or equivalent combina-tion of education and experience may be considered. Three years of facil-ity security operations experience at a management level, with direct re-sponsibility for all safety and security matters.

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By Alexis TaylorNew America Media

One out of every four American families in 2012 dealt with a medical bill debt burden, according to a data report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in January.

And while that statistic, compiled by the National Health Interview Survey, is alarming, even more compelling is the fact that one out of every 10 individuals with medical debt is “unable to pay at all.”

According to the report, families that were within 250 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) had an increased chance of medical debt. Families that had children under the age of 18 were also more at risk of falling into financial ruin due to medical expenses.

“In the past we’ve looked at financial burden from a personal perspective, but our survey has the unique ability to look at the problem from a family perspective,” said co-author Dr. Robin A. Cohen of the report. “The expenses of one family member can adversely affect the whole family.”

“We found that in 2012 one in six families had problems paying medical bills in the past 12 months. One in five of those families were paying bills over time or on credit and the presence of a family member that was uninsured increased the likelihood of a family facing some kind of burden from medical care,” Cohen said.

For the cross-sectional survey a “family” was defined as an individual or a group of two or more related persons living in the same housing unit.

Cohen said that having a mixture of coverage types also increased the chances of falling victim to medical bill debt. For example, a family of four with two individuals on Medicaid and two individuals using private insurance has an increased risk.

According to Cohen, families with mixed coverage, or a mixture of covered and uncovered individuals had almost a 50 percent chance of financial burden due to medical care.

This story originally appeared in The AFRO.

CDC Says 1 in 4 U.S. Families Faced Medical Debt Crisis in 2012


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Software Development Engineerin Test at WildTangent, Inc, FT, Redmond, WA. Responsible for testing software technology platforms & driving products to release. See website for complete job duties & reqs & to apply http://www.wildtangent. com/Corporate/work-here/


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Get the planthat fits

Call Washington Apple Health at 1-855-WAFINDER (1-855-923-4633). Choose Amerigroup.

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VNSF enables underprivileged students in Viet Nam to achieve success and happiness through education. We are looking for volunteers and board members to join the team and make a differ-ence in the lives of kids in Vietnam.

P.O. Box 16016 Seattle, WA [email protected] www.vnsf.org

1300 1st Ave, Seattle, WA 98101Ph: 206-654-3209 Fx: 206-654-3135SAM connects art to life through special exhibitions, educational programs and installations drawn from its collection of approximately 25,000 objects. Through its three sites, SAM presents global perspectives, making the arts a part of everyday life for people of all ages, interests, backgrounds and cultures.

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HomeSight5117 Rainier Ave S, Seattle, WA 98118ph: 206-723-4355 fx: 206-760-4210www.homesightwa.org

HomeSight creates homeownership opportunities through real estate development, home buyer education and counseling, and lending.

InterIm Community Development Association310 Maynard Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104 ph: 206-624-1802 fx: [email protected] www.interimicda.orgAffordable housing development, multi-lingual low-income housing outreach, rental information, financial literacy, neighborhood plan-ning and outreach for APAs, immigrants and refugees.

Asia Pacific Cultural Center4851 So. Tacoma WayTacoma, WA 98409Ph: 253-383-3900Fx: 253-292-1551faalua@comcast.netwww.asiapacificculturalcenter.orgBridging communities and generations through arts, culture, education and business.

Kawabe Memorial House221 18th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98144 ph: 206-322-4550 fx: [email protected] provide affordable, safe, culturally sensitive housing and support services to people aged 62 and older.

Address tobacco control and other health justice issues in the Asian American/Pacific Islander communities.

601 S King St.Seattle, WA 98104ph: 206-682-1668 website www.apicat.org

Asian Counseling & Referral Service3639 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S, Seattle, WA 98144 ph: 206-695-7600 fx: [email protected] www.acrs.orgACRS offers multilingual, behavioral health and social services to Asian Pacific Americans and other low-income people in King County.

National Asian Pacific Center on Aging Senior Community Service Employment Programph: 206-322-5272 fx: 206-322-5387www.napca.orgPart-time training program for low income Asian Pacific Islanders age 55+ in Seattle/King & Pierce Counties.

1601 E Yesler Way, Seattle, WA 98122ph: 206-323-7100 fx: 206-325-1502 www.nikkeiconcerns.orgRehabilitation & care center; assisted living community; senior activity program; continuing education.

Legacy House803 South Lane Street Seattle, WA 98104ph: 206-292-5184 fx: [email protected] www.scidpda.org/programs/legacyhouse.aspx

Description of organization/services offered: Assisted Living, Adult Day Services, meal programs for low-income seniors. Medicaid accepted.

Community Care Network of Kin On815 S Weller St, Suite 212, Seattle, WA 98104ph: 206-652-2330 fx: [email protected] www.kinon.orgProvides home care, Alzheimer’s and caregiver support, com-munity education and chronic care management; coordinates medical supply delivery for Asian/Chinese seniors and families in King County.

Kin On Health Care Center 4416 S Brandon St, Seattle, WA 98118ph: 206-721-3630 fx: [email protected] www.kinon.orgA 100-bed, Medicare and Medicaid certified, not-for-profit skilled nursing facility offering long-term skilled nursing and short-term rehab care for Asian/Chinese seniors.

Senior Services

WE MAKE LEADERS

Queen Anne Station, P.O. Box 19888, Seattle, WA [email protected], www.naaapseattle.orgFostering future leaders through education, networking and community services for Asian American professionals and entrepreneurs.Facebook: NAAAP-Seattle Twitter: twitter.com/naaapseattle

Social & Health Services

Chinese Information and Service Center611 S Lane St, Seattle, WA 98104 ph: 206-624-5633 fax: [email protected] www.cisc-seattle.org

CISC helps Asian immigrants make the transition to a new life while keeping later generations on touch with their rich heritage.

International District Medical & Dental Clinic720 8th Ave S, Suite 100, Seattle, WA 98104 ph: 206-788-3650 fax: 206-490-4011email: [email protected] website: www.ichs.com

Shoreline Medical & Dental ClinicComing in 2014!

ICHS is a non-profit medical and dental center that provides health care to low income Asian, Pacific Islanders, immigrants and refugees in Washington State.

Our programs help people meet their immediate needs and gain the skills and resources needed to reach solid ground and achieve their dreams.

1501 N 45th St, Seattle, WA 98103ph: 206-694-6700 fx: [email protected] www.solid-ground.org

ph: 206-624-3426 www.merchants-parking-transia.orgMerchants Parking provides

convenient & affordable community parking. Transia provides com-munity transportation: para-transit van services, shuttle services and field trips in & out of Chinatown/International District & South King County.

Seattle Rotary ClubBill NagelMeets Every Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.New Hong Kong [email protected]://www.seattleidrotary.org/Improve the local community by engaging

activities such as community improvement projects, scholarship opportunities, and undertakings that promote education.

PO Box 14047, Seattle WA 98114(206) 325.0325 (Helpline)[email protected]. apichaya.orgAPI Chaya is dedicated to serving survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence and

human trafficking in the Asian, South Asian and Pacific Islander communities. We offer multi-lingual services that are free and confidential.

Seattle Chinatown/International District Preservation and Development Authorityph: 206-624-8929 fx: 206-467-6376 [email protected]

Housing, property management and community development.

Executive Development Institute310 – 120th Ave NE. Suite A102 Bellevue, WA Ph. 425-467-9365 • Fax: 425-467-1244Email: [email protected] • Website: www.ediorg.orgEDI offers culturally relevant leadership development programs.

Professional & Leadership Development

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INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER February 5, 2014 – February18, 2014 — 15

IE NEWS

Report highlights Washington health care crisis, immigrants least insuredIE News Services

The number of Washington residents with no health insurance grew to 990,000 at the end of 2012, according to a new report from state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler. Ap-proximately 14.5 percent of people were unin-sured before 2014.

The report contains county-by-county data on the uninsured and the number of people eli-gible for free or low-cost health care in Wash-ington state.

The report also examines how higher poverty rates lead to insurance disparities by race and ethnicities. The percentage of uninsured Asians was reported to be 14 percent, compared to 11 percent white, 17 percent Black, 28 percent American Indian/Aslaska Native, and 30 per-cent Hispanic/Latino.

Immigration status was found to be another major factor of people who are uninsured—Washington residents who are not U.S. citizens were far more likely to be uninsured than other residents. For example, 40.7 percent of immi-grants who are not U.S. citizens are uninsured, compared to 17.2 percent of immigrants who have become citizens through the naturaliza-tion process.

Disparities were attributed to two factors. For one, employer-sponsored insurance is less available for immigrants. While about a third of United States citizens have employer-sponsored coverage, only 55-61.2 percent of non-citizens

have employer-spon-sored coverage.

The other fac-tor is eligibility or perceived eligibil-ity. Many immigrants are ineligible for pub-lic programs, par-ticularly those who lack documentation, have temporary law-ful statuses, or have recently gained law-ful statuses. Other immigrants may ac-tually be eligible for public coverage, but suffer from the misconcep-tion that this coverage is not available to them, the report found.

“The growth in the uninsured leading up to full implementation of the Affordable Care Act only makes the case for reform stronger,” Kreidler said in a statement. “I’ve long held that our current health care system was unsus-tainable and these numbers illustrate the crisis we faced.”

Among the report’s fi ndings, from 2010 through 2012:

• The number of uninsured people in Wash-ington grew by more than 44,000.

• Four out of fi ve people with individual in-surance were underinsured.

• Employer-sponsored coverage grew in-creasingly scarce.

• Uncompensated care ballooned to nearly $1 billion per year.

Counties with a particularly high percentage of uninsured residents include: Yakima (24.1 percent), Grant (20.4 percent), and Chelan (19.9 percent).

With the major provisions of the Afford-able Care Act now in effect, the uninsured rate is expected to drop from 14.5 percent to 6 percent by 2016 and approximately 805,400 low- and middle-income families to be eligible for free or low-cost health cover-age through the state’s Exchange, Washing-ton Healthplanfi nder, according to the Offi ce

of the Washington State Insurance Commis-sioner.

The report also found that:• Eighty percent of people with individual

health insurance were underinsured—meaning they had plans that only paid for 25-40 percent of their medical costs.

• Early provisions of the Affordable Care Act prevented an estimated 100,000 people from joining the ranks of the uninsured.

• Charity care and unpaid medical bills at hospitals and health care providers’ offi ces continued to hover around a $1 billion a year in Washington.

• More than 323,700 people have enrolled in health coverage as of Jan. 23, 2014.

“For many families who have struggled to get or keep health coverage, health reform couldn’t come soon enough,” Kreidler said. “Regardless of how you feel about ‘Obam-acare,’ it’s hard to argue that we’re not making progress in stopping the growth of uninsured or that the status quo was sustainable. Before health reform, we had hundreds of thousands of people living one bad diagnosis away from bankruptcy.”

The Offi ce of the Washington State Insur-ance Commissioner oversees the state’s insur-ance industry to protect consumers and make sure that companies, agents and brokers follow the rules.

Courtesy photo


IE NEWS

Check back for Sudoku in the IE every issue! Answers to this puzzle are in the next issue on Wednesday, February 19.

Can’t attend? Share your feedback by participating in this short online survey:

www.seattle.gov/util and click on

Take Our Survey.

February 5, 2014 6 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.Garfield Community Center2323 East Cherry Street, Seattle, 98122 February 13, 2014 6 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.High Point Community Center6920 34th Avenue SW, Seattle, 98126 February 20, 2014 6 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.Magnuson Park – The Brig6344 NE 74th Street, Seattle, 98115 February 22, 2014 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.North Seattle Community College College Center, Room CC-11619600 College Way North, Seattle 98103 March 1, 2014 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.Van Asselt Community Center22810 South Myrtle Street, Seattle, 98108

Have a say in the future of your Utility Rates.

Attend a meeting and tell us what you think.

For more information call: 206-684-5032

Accommodations provided for people with disabilities & language needs.

IE News ServicesOn Wednesday, January 29, the Washington

State House of Representatives passed House Bill 1313, which establishes minimum standards for one million Washington workers—one third of the state’s workforce—to accrue paid sick and safe time.

“No working family should be forced to leave a sick child at home or go to work with the fl u for fear of losing their paycheck. Today’s paid sick days bill means they won’t have to,” Representative Laurie Jinkins (D), the bill’s prime sponsor, said in a statement. “I am proud of how small businesses, community groups, faith leaders and workers have come together with lawmakers to pass a bill that strengthens our families and communities.”

The bill will protect one million Washington workers who do not currently have access to paid sick days, supporters say.

“No one should be forced to go to work sick, no one should worry that they’re going to lose their job if they have to stay home because they’re sick with a sick child,” Jinkins said before the House on Wednesday. “And you shouldn’t have to choose whether or not to stay home with your sick kid or put food on your table for that kid at the end of the week. That’s what we have happening today.”

Republican opponents to the bill argued that the requirement would put a strain on small business owners, who they say already take care of their sick employees.

“To assume that the small businesses and businesses of Washington state have no moral conscience, no moral code with which they are operating that there is no concern about their employees, Mr. Speaker, you know better and I know better,” Rep. Norma Smith (R) said in opposition to the bill before the House.

HB 1313 will allow employees to earn 5 to 9 days of paid sick and safe leave, depending on the employer’s size. The bill will bring new sick leave protection to hundreds of thousands of workers including 140,000 in accommodation

and food service, 150,000 in retail, and 90,000 in health care and social assistance.

Under HB 1313, employees will accrue one hour of paid sick leave time for every 40 hours worked or for every 30 hours worked if their employer has over 250 full-time employees. Workers may use sick and safe time for their own illness or injury, diagnosis or preventative care, or for the health needs of a child, spouse, domestic partner, parent-in-law or grandparent. Workers may also use sick and safe time to cope with the consequences of domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking. The bill was sponsored by Representatives Farrell, Morrell, Green, Dunshee, Lytton, Sawyer, Sells, Fitzgibbon, Riccelli, Moeller, Appleton, Reykdal, Roberts, Ryu, Pollet and Moscoso.

“Today, the Washington State House of Representatives took a step toward strengthening the economic security of working families,” said Marilyn Watkins, director of the Washington Work and Family Coalition, in a statement. “Washington’s families, communities and economy will be stronger when working people have enough income to cover the basics while protecting their own health and caring for their loved ones.”

Connecticut, Jersey City, Newark, New York City, Portland, OR, San Francisco, SeaTac, Seattle, and Washington D.C. have passed laws allowing workers to accrue paid sick leave.

Statewide paid sick days bill moves past Washington State House

Courtesy photo

international examiner february 5, 2014

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