Insurance Handbook - Alaska Department of Community and ...

Glossary
the states for people whose income and
resources are insufficient to pay for health
care.
*MEDICAL INFORMATION BUREAU
See MIB, Inc.
MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
INSURANCE
See Malpractice insurance.
MEDICAL PAYMENTS INSURANCE
A coverage in which the insurer agrees to
reimburse the insured and others up to a
certain limit for medical or funeral expenses
as a result of bodily injury or death
by accident. Payments are without regard
to fault.
MEDICAL UTILIZATION REVIEW
The practice used by insurance companies
to review claims for medical treatment.
MEDICARE
Federal program for people 65 or older that
pays part of the costs associated with hospitalization,
surgery, doctors’ bills, home
health care and skilled nursing care.
MEDIGAP/MEDSUP
Policies that supplement federal insurance
benefits particularly for those covered
under Medicare.
*MIB, INC.
A nonprofit organization established to
provide information to insurers about
impairments that applicants have admitted
to, or that other insurers have detected,
in connection with previous applications
for insurance. Formerly known as Medical
Information Bureau.
MINE SUBSIDENCE COVERAGE
An endorsement to a homeowners insurance
policy, available in some states, for
losses to a home caused by the land under
a house sinking into a mine shaft. Excluded
108 I.I.I. Insurance Handbook www.iii.org/insurancehandbook
from standard homeowners policies, as are
other forms of earth movement.
*MISREPRESENTATION
A false or misleading statement. (1) In
insurance sales, a false or misleading statement
made by a sales agent to induce a customer
to purchase insurance is a prohibited
sales practice. (2) In insurance underwriting,
a false or misleading statement by an
insurance applicant may provide a basis for
the insurer to avoid the policy.
*MISSTATEMENT OF AGE
OR SEX PROVISION
A life insurance, health insurance, and annuity
policy provision that describes how
policy benefits will be adjusted if the age
or sex of the insured has been misstated in
the insurance application. Typically, the
benefits payable will be those that the premiums
paid would have purchased for the
correct age or sex.
*MODIFIED PREMIUM POLICIES
An insurance policy for which the policy
owner first pays a lower premium than she
would for a similar level premium policy
for a specified initial period and then pays
a higher premium than she would for a
similar level premium policy. Contrast with
Level premium policies and Single premium
policies.
MONEY SUPPLY
Total supply of money in the economy,
composed of currency in circulation and
deposits in savings and checking accounts.
By changing the interest rates the Federal
Reserve seeks to adjust the money supply
to maintain a strong economy.
*MORAL HAZARD
The possibility that a person may act dishonestly
in an insurance transaction.