by wildcherry on Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 | Entertainment, News

A family who received a new house from the TV show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” five years ago is now facing foreclosure, reports 10News’ Joe Little. The Wofford family, of Encinitas, Calif., have been struggling for the past two years, they said. Dr. Brian Wofford, father of the eight kids, explained: “A lot of people think when you get the house you get the mortgage. Well, you don’t.”

They have been attempting to modify the loan, and have even hired an attorney to help them out, but they claimed the lending agent has been completely unresponsive. A representative of OneWest Bank, when contacted by 10News, said that loan modification papers would be ready by next week. But “I haven’t seen anything in writing,” Brian admitted. If it does not go through, the house will go up for auction in two weeks.

Tony Andrade owes tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills, and in June he was diagnosed with bladder cancer, reports the Sacramento Bee’s Bobby Caina Calvan, who is profiling him for a three-part series. Andrade is uninsured, but went to the emergency room after finding blood in his urine because he knew they would admit him. The ER diagnosed his tumor, but refused to operate. “I thought doctors were supposed to help you,” he said. “I’ve got this tumor inside me that needs to come out, that this doctor told me needs to come out, and he’s turning me away.”

He earns $11.50 an hour — too much to qualify for California’s version of Medicaid, but not enough to pay for his own insurance coverage. He also has diabetes, which would qualify as a pre-existing condition and make his insurance costs even higher. Andrade recently was approved for a county indigent services program, but bureaucratic problems halted his treatment briefly. In late September surgery to help prevent the spread of his tumor was finally approved, though the procedure still terrified him.

Tags: California Medicaid, Dr. Brian Wofford, Extreme Makeover Home Edition Foreclosure, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, health insurance, Health Reform, Medicaid, Medical Bills, National Health Reform, Wofford Family Foreclosure