About Us

Serving the community for 50 years!

The JACL Health Benefits Trust was originally set up to help Japanese Americans who couldn’t buy health insurance due to discrimination, and we continue the mission of providing quality health insurance to the community. With the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the members overwhelmingly voted to approve amendments to the Trust Agreement, allowing the Trust to continue operations by forming JA Health Benefits FPC (dba JA Health Insurance Services), a flexible purpose corporation.

The “JA” in our name reflects our mission to support the health insurance needs of the Japanese American community, but also the broader Asian American community. “FPC” stands for Flexible Purpose Corporation, which allows us to operate within the new health insurance laws as a philanthropic entity. FPC’s bridge the gap between traditional for-profit entities, and non-profit entities. As an FPC we can give money back to the community by supporting programs that benefit the Japanese-American community and the broader Asian American community. Visit the JA Community Foundation website to learn more about the organizations and projects we support.

There is no fee for our services. All quotes are identical to direct insurance company quotes. By going through our organization we can advocate on your behalf and provide customer service for as long as you have the plan. Our individual agents do not earn commissions; rather, our organization is paid commission by the insurance companies.

Due to California Department of Insurance guidelines, JA Health Benefits FPC transacts all business under the name JA Health Insurance Services.

Board of Trustees
JA Health Benefits Trust

Dr. Leroy Morishita, Chair
President of California State University East Bay

Kevin Nagata, Vice Chair
Emergency Coordinator at California’s Office of Emergency Services, Retired

Edward Oda, Treasurer/Secretary
Systems Analyst at Chevron Corporation, Retired

James Oshima, Trustee
Director of Tax at ARYZTA North America

Doug Urata, Trustee
Senior Project Manager at Pacific Life

Board of Directors
JA Health Benefits FPC / JA Health Insurance Services

Doug Urata, Chair
Senior Project Manager at Pacific Life

Carol Nishita, Vice Chair
Director of Administration of East Bay Municipal Utility District, Retired

James Oshima, Chief Financial Officer 
Director of Tax at ARYZTA North America

Peter Nakaso, Director 
Engineering Manager Cloud Services, Siemens

Kikuo Nakahara, Director
Chief Financial Officer of Summit Bancshares Inc.

Carole Yamakoshi, Director
Manager of Clinical Support and Enterprise Information Systems at Cedars-Sinai Hospital