Miami ? Jewish charities around the country say their insurance premiums are climbing out of sight because of fears of terrorist attacks on their buildings, forcing them to cut programs for children, the elderly and the poor.

“The word ‘Jewish’ is an unwelcome word in the world of insurance today,” said Mike Scheinblum, who volunteers as risk manager for the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, which raises money for dozens of Miami Jewish agencies. He called the premium increases for Jewish groups “passive discrimination.”

In some cases, Jewish organizations have reported that premiums for property insurance have doubled since Sept. 11.

Some insurance companies are no longer offering terrorism coverage as part of their overall property insurance policies, or they are offering it at prohibitive rates.

As a result, some Jewish organizations are going without terrorism coverage, leaving themselves open to financial ruin if their buildings or employees are attacked.

“It would bankrupt a nonprofit to have terrorism insurance,” said Lewis Stolzenberg, executive director of the Jewish Community Center of New York City’s Staten Island. The agency is facing an overall insurance increase of 50 percent to $500,000 and has had to eliminate a shuttle service for senior citizens.

The higher premiums are in addition to the tens of thousands of dollars that some Jewish charities are spending on security, including 24-hour guards and surveillance equipment.

Insurance industry representatives deny Jewish groups are being singled out. They say other businesses and nonprofit groups are also seeing their premiums rise, too, because of the danger of terrorism.

“I do not think that it’s directed against Jewish risks in particular,” said Vera Inman of Seitlin, a firm that represents Florida insurance providers.

Tami Torres, a spokeswoman for the Florida Insurance Department, said that state regulators were unaware of any price gouging and that the insurance market is tight all over in Florida.

Gary Bomzer of the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center in Miami said he has had to cut back on after-school programs for children and services for the elderly because the center’s property insurance premiums doubled this year to $274,000 and that is without the terrorism coverage that used to be part of the policy.

“I have a 104-year-old man who comes in for a free hot lunch every day,” said Bomzer, whose agency helps over 5,000 people each year. “Where is he supposed to go?” He added: “Every extra penny paid out to an insurance company means I can’t help a family whose child has Down syndrome.”

John Fishel, president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, the country’s second-largest federation after New York’s, predicted his agency’s premium would go up as much as 50 percent, and the policy would probably not include terrorism coverage.

“The cost of coverage was dramatically impacted by 9/11,” he said.

Ed Rosen, director of the Dave & Mary Alper Jewish Community Center in Miami, said premiums went up $110,000 this year, forcing him to lay off staff and cut programs. The agency runs a summer day camp for 600 children, a camp for needy children, an athletic program, and services for the elderly.

In Congress, the House and Senate have passed plans that would subsidize terrorism insurance. But legislators have yet to reconcile the two versions, despite appeals from business and nonprofit groups.

Jewish and consumer groups complain that in cases where terrorism coverage is still available, the policies are inadequate.

“They come with a whole host of exclusions such as biological, radiological and chemical attacks the very types of attacks our leaders have warned us to be on the lookout for,” said Marty DePoy of the Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism.