Healthcare That You Should Avoid, part 2

By Albert Fuchs, M.D.
Published on February 22, 2013

The gift of life insurance

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on November 20, 2012

Todd Gindy, a certified financial planner, likes to tell a story about Johnny Carson to illustrate how nonprofits miss a big opportunity when they don’t suggest donors use life insurance policies as a vehicle for charitable giving. For years, the longtime host of “The Tonight Show” gave $1 million every year to Children of the Night, an organization founded by Dr. Lois Lee to rescue child victims of sex trafficking.

A note to Jewish grandparents

Published on November 1, 2012

I believe there is a unique bond between grandparents and grandchildren. We look out for each other. We have each other’s backs.

Brown signs law targeting insurance industry ties with Iran

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on October 3, 2012

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law a bill aimed at dissuading California-based insurance companies from making indirect investments in Iran.

Opinion: Jewish organizations, others must stop interfering with Holocaust survivors' rights

Published on July 2, 2012

The JTA recently published an op-ed by Menachem Rosensaft which gratuitously offers an “alternative” to the legislation that Holocaust survivors and children and grandchildren of survivors are seeking in Congress. The bills Rosensaft patronizingly calls “well-intentioned” are necessary to restore our rights to go to U.S. courts to recover insurance policies sold by Allianz, Generali, AXA, and other global insurers to our parents and grandparents which the companies dishonored after the Holocaust.

U.S. Supreme Court upholds Obama healthcare law centerpiece

Published on June 28, 2012

A sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's signature healthcare overhaul law that requires that most Americans get insurance by 2014 or pay a financial penalty.

Crafting a Holocaust insurance solution that works

Published on June 27, 2012

There is a solution to get us beyond the seemingly endless stalemates and complications that continue to characterize the ongoing debate over Holocaust-era insurance claims. And I do not believe it can be found in the well-intentioned bill before the U.S. Congress.

Holocaust insurance claims divide the Jewish community

Published on June 6, 2012

Hardly a day goes by where Renee Firestone isn't asked by some school, museum, reporter or filmmaker to talk about the Holocaust. "Somebody has to tell the story," she said. "I am fortunate enough, at my age, to still be able to walk and talk. So I have to do it." Firestone is 88, with pale blue eyes and a warm, Cheshire cat smile. She manages a 24-unit apartment building in Beverly Hills, where she lives with her daughter, Klaire.

N.Y. arson attack investigated as insurance scam

Published on January 12, 2012

An arson attack last year on cars in a predominately Jewish neighborhood of New York reportedly is being investigated as an insurance scam instead of a hate crime.

New momentum for bill to allow lawsuits against Holocaust-era insurance companies

Published on June 21, 2011

It’s becoming a D.C. perennial: Every two years, a new Congress is ushered in and lawmakers from Florida herald a bill that once and for all will bring insurance companies to account for swindling Holocaust survivors. And every two years, congressional staffers and Jewish community professionals who negotiate Holocaust restitution say the bill's chances of passage are nil.

Holocaust survivors struggle to receive insurance payouts

Published on June 2, 2011

Holocaust survivors continue to face roadblocks, including the United States government, in collecting on insurance policies taken out before the war.

To Be or Not to Be, Rich…

By Julia Bendis
Published on March 3, 2011

The Joys of Car Dealerships!

By Julia Bendis
Published on January 10, 2011

Why We Must Support Universal Health Care

Published on August 26, 2009

Whether or not we are believers in the Obama plan, or any of the particular plans for universal health care currently winding their way through Congress, support for universal health care is an imperative in Jewish law. Although what is available in medicine and its cost have changed radically, particularly over the past century, the fundamental right to receive good care — and to be compensated for giving it — goes very far back in our heritage, though perhaps, ironically, not all the way to the Torah or even the Mishnah.

The high cost of dying

By Jane Ulman
Published on August 7, 2008

A traditional Jewish funeral is simple and not ostentatious -- good news for people concerned about the high cost of dying. But while Jewish law doesn't require embalming, elaborate floral displays or 16-gauge metal caskets with tufted crepe interiors, it does require Jews to be buried in the ground. And that costs money.

Briefs

Published on April 5, 2007

News briefs.

Interest Increases as Deadline Nears

By David Finnigan
Published on May 11, 2006

Susie Tiffany of Beverly Hills suffers from a rare blood disorder and needs monthly infusions of blood components, which her insurance company ultimately declined to cover. She hoped the government's new prescription drug benefit would help her out because, despite her ZIP code, she's a low-income senior. But the possibilities, were baffling: an array of private insurance plans that covered different things, explanations on the Internet that included terms she never had to know before, additional complexities depending on a person's income and a confusing interplay of state and federal agencies. However, Tiffany was able to find assistance in her case from Jewish Family Service. A social worker helped get Tiffany's treatment covered by new state funds intended to help seniors with the transition to the new federal system.

Community Briefs

By Yaakov Katz
Published on March 2, 2006

One of two Jewish candidates seeking the Republican nomination for California insurance commissioner has pulled out of the race.

Bills Seek to End Israel Travel Penalty

By Idan Ivri
Published on August 25, 2005

It happens over and over again: A planned trip to Israel induces gasps of worry from friends who have never visited the country. Every suicide bombing or mortar attack on television reinforces the vision of Israel as a vast raging war zone.

Letters

Published on May 26, 2005

Letter to the Editor.

Israel Has Rx for U.S. Health Care

By Mordechai Shani
Published on August 19, 2004

Israel and the United States each have successes and failures in their respective health care systems, but the younger of the modern nations, rooted in its tradition of helping the needy, has much to teach its American ally.

Pacific Mortgage Funding Corporation

Published on August 5, 2004

As a national commercial real estate lender, Pacific Mortgage Funding Corporation offers a variety of financing options for apartment projects, office buildings, retail shopping centers, hotels, subdivisions, and more.

Sol Bojarsky

Published on July 1, 2004

A native of Los Angeles, born in Boyle Heights, Oct. 1, 1919, bar mitzvah at the Breed Street Shul, Sol Bojarsky was a graduate of Hollywood High School and UCLA.

Community Briefs

Published on July 1, 2004

Plaintiff Allen Estrin won a major victory in his lawsuit against 14 life insurance companies over their refusal to cover people who travel to Israel.

Insurance Claim Debate Heats Up

By Tom Tugend
Published on June 17, 2004

Two antagonists in a long-simmering dispute about the handling of life insurance claims stemming from the Holocaust era took off their gloves last week in a bitter exchange of letters.

Out of Context

By Jill Stewart
Published on May 13, 2004

About a year before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a major reform of California's disastrous workers' comp system, the same basic reforms were fought and eventually killed by elected Democrats trying to protect lawyers who gamed our broken system but gave heavily to Democratic campaign coffers.

Plan Seeks to Cure High Cost of Drugs

By Idan Ivri
Published on April 22, 2004

In this presidential campaign year, the figure is ubiquitous: One out of four Americans, about 70 million people, do not have health insurance.

Community Briefs

Published on December 25, 2003

Two rival teams will square off in Pasadena on New Year's Day. No, not USC vs. Michigan. Get ready for the ultimate grudge match: Jews for Judaism vs. Jews for Jesus.

L.A. Survivors Sue Claims Commission

By Tom Tugend
Published on November 6, 2003

Three Holocaust survivors in their 70s lead comfortable lives in Los Angeles suburbia, but their anger burns as fiercely as when they were teenagers deported to Nazi forced labor and concentration camps.

Their indignation and frustration are now directed mainly at an international commission, which they believe is fronting for an insurance company that has given them the runaround for nearly 60 years.

During a recent news conference, the three survivors denounced the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) and its chairman, former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger.

Survivors Sue Claims Commission

By Matthew E. Berger
Published on October 2, 2003

Survivors are suing the commission on Nazi-era insurance claims, a commissioner has called for the resignation of its chief and Jewish officials handling the claims acknowledge serious problems.

But they also say there probably isn't a better way to dole out the claims.

The anger and frustration some lawmakers and survivors feel toward the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims peaked last week when several survivors filed suit, claiming the organization was delaying payments.

California's insurance commissioner, John Garamendi, a member of the commission, later joined the suit and called for the resignation of the commission's chairman, former U.S. Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger.

‘California Eight’ Sue Italy’s Generali

By Tom Tugend
Published on May 8, 2003

When Suzanne Weiner-Zada was growing up in Hungary, her father, a wealthy lumber merchant, took out eight insurance policies with Assicurazioni Generali of Italy, one of the world's largest insurance companies, which operated extensively in the pre-World War II Jewish communities of Central and Eastern Europe.

U.S. Opposes Court Reparations Rulings

By David A. Lash
Published on January 30, 2003

Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice took a stand against the best interests of the most aged, infirm and vulnerable of Holocaust survivors.

Seemingly without shame, the federal government filed briefs arguing that significant court victories for long-forgotten survivors should be overturned.

Planning Ahead Can Save on Health Care

By Gaby Wenig
Published on December 26, 2002

Because elder care can be an enormous drain on an individual's resources, with nursing homes costing in excess of $100 a day and home care costing even more, planning ahead and buying long-term-care insurance is one way of preventing the costs from being too overwhelming.

Justice Delayed and Justice Denied

By Rep. Henry Waxman
Published on February 14, 2002

Holocaust survivors have been waiting decades to reclaim Holocaust-era insurance policies. Unfortunately, the findings of an ongoing congressional investigation I initiated indicate that their wait is far from over.

Fraudulent Friend

By Gaby Wenig
Published on January 10, 2002

After being left a quadriplegic in a car accident in 1993, 53-year-old Alice Wintz received an insurance settlement that she thought would, with careful investing, leave her financially secure for life.

So she asked money manager Reed Slatkin to invest her settlement. Wintz and her ex-husband had met Slatkin in 1986 through a business associate, and considered him a friend. Impressed with his charm and financial acumen, and, having had what Wintz describes as a "good experience" investing a small amount of money with him in 1986, they thought they could trust him with the insurance settlement.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had accused Slatkin of running a Ponzi scheme shortly after he filed for bankruptcy in May 2001. (A Ponzi scheme is a phony investment plan in which money provided by later investors is used to pay artificially high returns to the initial investors, with the goal of attracting as many investors as possible.) Slatkin's alleged scheme is said to be one of the biggest cases of investment fraud in American history.

Show Us the Money

By Sharon Samber
Published on November 15, 2001

The word from survivors is clear: The Holocaust insurance claims process doesn't work.

Lawmakers joined survivors in their criticism, accusing the international commission charged with resolving Holocaust-era insurance claims of being too slow and not getting money to policyholders or their heirs.

Survivors Get Short-Shrift

By Tom Tugend
Published on May 24, 2001

At issue is whether ICHEIC should have sole jurisdiction over such disputes or whether survivors can file separate class action suits in American courts.

A Kind Word

By Tom Tugend
Published on July 6, 2000

About the only words of praise for Chuck Quackenbush, who resigned last week (June 28) as California insurance commissioner in the face of certain impeachment, have come from Holocaust survivors grateful for his dogged attempts to force European insurance companies to pay claims stemming from the Nazi era.

Disturbing Numbers

Published on May 11, 2000

Three out of every four insurance policy claims submitted by Holocaust survivors or heirs of victims are being rejected by European insurers.

Waiting for the X

By Rina Szwarc
Published on October 7, 1999

To please Holocaust survivors and Jewish advocacy groups or to please the insurance companies.

California Pressures Insurers to Settle Holocaust-era Claims

By Tom Tugend
Published on May 6, 1999

State Sen. Tom Hayden handed Quackenbush a petition that called for the suspension of 64 insurance companies practicing in California which have failed to honor Holocaust-era claims.

60th anniversary of Kristallnacht

By Arthur Stern
Published on October 22, 1998

November 1998 will mark the 60th anniversary of Kristallnacht. Sixty years have passed since the beginning of one of human history's darkest moments and even now we find ourselves still pursuing justice for the victims of the Holocaust.

Community Briefs

Published on August 27, 1998

The Chabad Telethon -- that unique mix of caring, sharing and good production values -- returns to the small screen this Sunday, Aug. 30, from 5 p.m. to midnight on UPN Channel 13.

Pursuing Holocaust Claims

Published on July 16, 1998

A new sophisticated computer database may help theheirs of Holocaust victims receive the benefits of insurance policiestaken out by long-deceased relatives.

Community

By Tom Tugend
Published on February 12, 1998

Community.

Supporting Their Claims

By Tom Tugend
Published on November 27, 1997

California's insurance commissioner has promised to use the power of his office to help thousands of the state's residents collect on unpaid insurance policies stemming from the Holocaust era.

Filing His Claim

By Rob Eshman
Published on May 1, 1997

A payment slip from 1927, part of the documentary evidence to support Freddy Jackson's claim. Sitting in the Fairfax Avenue deli where he worked for four decades of his life, Freddy Jackson reflects on his chances of getting the millions of dollars due him.