What Is the Medical Information Bureau (MIB)?

MIB, formerly known as the Medical Information Bureau, is a not-for-profit, member-owned corporation that has served life insurers in the U.S. and Canada since 1902. MIB helps life insurance companies evaluate applicants effectively through detailed MIB reports during the underwriting process. This bureau manages a comprehensive consumer database that enhances the accuracy and efficiency of medical underwriting in life insurance.

The MIB or MIB Group, Inc. plays a vital role in the insurance sector by enhancing the underwriting process for life insurance companies across the U.S. and Canada. As a collaborative organization owned by its member insurers, the MIB maintains a consumer database that allows insurance companies to assess applicants more accurately and screen them for past or current medical conditions. In addition to consumer medical information, the MIB collects information about dangerous hobbies and traffic violations. This information helps insurers reduce and prevent fraud.

When consumers apply for insurance, the information they provide about their habits and medical histories is sent to the MIB insurance database. Information that insurers uncover during underwriting can also be added to the MIB consumer file, and any member company can then access the information if that person files for insurance. The process helps ensure that an applicant's medical information from the MIB is utilized effectively to protect insurers and policyholders alike.

The Medical Information Bureau (MIB) consists of a network of insurance companies that strive to safeguard the integrity of the industry. The MIB was created to protect the industry and its customers by enabling the secure exchange of underwriting information, which prevents fraudulent claims and ensures fair policy pricing.

This collaboration of insurance providers forms a robust framework where MIB records are shared responsibly among member companies, enhancing the accuracy of risk assessment and supporting the overall health of the insurance sector.

The MIB functions in a way that’s similar to a credit bureau. While a credit bureau tracks your credit history using lender-provided information like your credit cards and loans, the MIB tracks your medical history in order to help insurance companies decide how insurable you are. Types of insurance that require MIB reports include:

• Life insurance
• Health insurance
• Disability income
• Critical illness
• Long-term care

The meaning of MIB in insurance centers on its function as a protective tool for insurers, ensuring that underwriting decisions are based on thorough and accurate medical information. MIB codes support this process, standardizing the recording of health conditions, treatments and medical consultations. MIB reports make data accessible and interpretable across the industry.

Your Medical Information Bureau report includes information about your medical history, including diagnoses and treatment of illness, as well as other personal factors like your driving record, employment and whether or not you participate in dangerous activities, like skydiving. The information listed in the MIB report includes:

• Date of any previous life insurance applications
• Date of diagnosis or treatment for an illness
• Medical conditions, including mental health
• Types of treatment for medical conditions
• Where the medical history came from
• Driving record, including accidents and tickets
• Criminal activity, including arrests
• Occupation status
• Travel to foreign countries
• Participation in dangerous activities, like skydiving

Insurance companies use the information in the MIB report to assess your application. While the MIB report is not the only factor that insurance companies take into consideration, it helps insurers verify that the information you provided in your application is accurate.

The MIB takes steps to ensure that user data is safe and that an individual’s data is private. It employs MIB codes and only includes information pertinent to an insurance application. The MIB doesn’t collect or store medical records; it only collects information about your medical history. Access to your MIB report is limited to you and the insurance companies, ensuring confidentiality and security.   Importantly, individuals must consent to the use of their MIB data as part of the insurance application process. Additionally, the MIB provides data only when requested by a member insurer and with the specific consent of the insurance applicant.

When evaluating life insurance applications, insurers utilize MIB records to ensure the information applicants provide is accurate and complete. An MIB insurance check offers access to a consolidated record of medical and non-medical information that may affect an applicant's insurability.

Below are ways insurers use the MIB database for life insurance:

• Verification of Application Data: Insurers perform an MIB check to compare the information submitted by the applicant against what is stored in the MIB insurance database. This helps identify any discrepancies or omissions that might suggest misrepresentation or fraud.

• Risk Assessment: The comprehensive data available through an MIB life insurance search allows insurers to assess the risk associated with insuring an individual more accurately. This includes medical conditions, lifestyle choices and other risk factors detailed in the MIB report.

• Policy Pricing and Terms: Based on the findings from the MIB reports, insurers can more accurately set premiums and policy terms that reflect the true risk of insuring the applicant. This ensures that policies are priced fairly according to the risk they represent.

• Regulatory Compliance: Using the MIB insurance database helps insurers comply with regulatory requirements by assessing all relevant risks before issuing a policy.

Many insurers use MIB data in their underwriting process, serving as a tool for maintaining the reliability and integrity of insurance practices.

You can request a free copy of your MIB report once per year. You can access your report online or over the phone.

This report will include the same information that an insurer will see when assessing a policy application. Information in the report includes:

• Any medical and personal information that the MIB has in its database, along with who reported the information and when it was reported.
• The name of any MIB member company that received or requested your MIB report.
• Information about disability benefits for which you’ve applied if you previously applied for disability income insurance.

It’s a good idea to review your MIB report to make sure that it’s accurate and error-free. This helps to ensure that your application is fairly assessed.

If you find any errors in your MIB report, you can take steps to dispute or change this information. In order to do so, you’ll need to submit a signed Request for Reinvestigation Form and provide information including your name, date of birth, where you live, your Social Security number and any items that you believe to be incomplete or inaccurate.

We’ve answered some frequently asked questions about the MIB to help you understand how it works.