Lauren Gerraputa

I. Citation:
Travelers to Israel shouldn't be denied coverage, US insurance firms told
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1207238155039&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Jpost.com
April 3, 2008

II. Summary:
This article is about insurance companies telling American’s that they could forfeit life insurance payments or risk being denied completely, if they travel to Israel. The New York Office of State is against this. He addressed a convention urging the insurance commissioners to let Americans travel to Israel without having to worry about their insurance. But the insurers have a list of countries that are “dangerous or unstable” and in 2005; Israel was added to the list. Last fall, the US House of Representatives passed the Life Insurance Fairness for Travelers Act. The bill though, did not get a vote in the Senate. The State of Florida's Office of Insurance Regulation announced it was working to revoke the license of American General Life Insurance.

III. Reaction:
A) I think this article relates to the theme Development and interactions of culture because the Insurance companies are judging these countries by the problems they are faced with. They don’t want Americans going to their country and getting involved in their culture and affairs.
B) The Life Insurance Fairness for Travelers Act was created by Rep. Wasserman Schultz in 2005 and she thought it was very wrong that people weren’t free to go to Israel or other Middle East countries. This issue with the insurance company and traveling to these countries has been going on for many years.
C) There is no specific name for the author, but you can assume they are Jewish.
D) The author can imply that they think this is silly because they are Jewish and could live near Israel and they think it is ok for Americans to come over. They also say “…to deny either coverage or payment. The list of what the department calls "dangerous or unstable countries" has recently included nations such as Eritrea, Algeria and Sudan. Israel was added to the list in 2005.” By putting dangerous or unstable countries in quotes they are saying that they think this is untrue.
E) A point of view that’s missing in the article is someone who traveled to Israel and had to deal with their insurance not being covered. By hearing their side of the story and them telling us if Israel is as bad as the insurance companies make them seem, that would help me understand this article better.
F) I think the insurance companies shouldn’t have the right to not cover someone just because they want to travel to a certain country. It’s also wrong to judge those countries especially if they are trying to deal with problems within their country. The act that was issued in 2005 should’ve been passed.