Insurance Terms - M
maintenance, cure, and wages (MCW) - (a concept within general maritime law that spells out the duties owed by the owner of a vessel to sick or injured crew members: maintenance - proper rehabilitation, food and lodging; cure - medical treatment toward recovery; wages - usual wages during illness)
managed care organization (MCO) - (entity that offers a managed care plan for workers compensation benefits that joins a provider network with case management personnel, medical bill review, and a quality assurance program)
managed care organization (MCO) - (healthcare provider whose goal is to provide appropriate, cost-effective medical treatment - generally of 2 types: 1) health maintenance organization (HMO) and 2) preferred provider organization (PPO))
managed premium plan (MPP) -
management advisory services (MAS) - (consulting services provided by third parties to businesses in various specialty areas, such as computers and hardware, business or asset valuation, mergers and acquisitions, business operations, and litigation support)
management information system (MIS) - (computer-based or manual system that transforms data into information useful in the support of decision making - normally provides support functions in three ways: 1) generates reports; 2) answers what-if questions; 3) supports decision-making)
Management Liability Insurance Specialist (MLIS) - (certification granted by the International Risk Management Institute, Inc. (IRMI) in the area of management liability exposures and insurance following completion of studies and exams)
Management Oversight and Risk Tree (MORT) -
managing general agent (MGA) - (a wholesale insurance intermediary with the authority to accept placements from (and often to appoint) retail agents on behalf of an insurer - MGAs generally provide underwriting and administrative services, such as policy issuance, on behalf of the insurers they represent - typically MGAs have the expertise/experience to market unusual or more specialized types of coverage, such as professional liability)
managing general underwriter (MGU) - (term used in life and health companies for a managing general agent (MGA))
mandatory securities valuation reserve (MSVR) - (liability reserve for life insurers required to be maintained by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) prior to 1992 for fluctuations in the values of investments in securities - MSRV was discontinued in 1992 and replaced by the asset valuation reserve (AVR))
manufacturers and contractors liability insurance (M&C) - (coverage for liability exposures that result from manufacturing and contracting operations in process on a manufacturer's premises (all locations of ongoing operations) or, in the case of a contractor, off-premises operation at a construction site - now considered obsolete, following the 1986 revision of the commercial general liability (CGL) policy - currently other forms can be used to cover specific types of operations/products)
manufacturers output insurance (MOP) - (coverage for personal property of a manufacturer on an all risks basis when that property is off the manufacturer's premises)
Market Assistance Plans (MAPs) - (voluntary state insurance programs that aid small businesses, or professionals, in acquiring insurance coverage when there are impediments to obtaining the coverage, or limited availability)
market service agreement (MSA) - (also called placement service agreement (PSA)) (an agreement between an insurance intermediary and an insurer that includes a type of contingent commission program based predominately on the volume of business placed with the insurer, with little or no relation to the profitability of the business, or even suitability of the policies sold to the business - such agreements are frowned on, since are considered a major conflict of interest)
market value adjustment (MVA) - (increase or decrease in the surrender charge of a life insurance policy or annuity contract depending on the current financial markets)
market value of invested capital (MVIC) -
masonry construction (masonry noncumbustible construction) (M) - (Type of building construction where the exterior walls are made of masonry material (adobe, brick, concrete, gypsum block, hollow concrete block, stone, tile, or similar materials), with floor and roof of metal or other noncombustible materials.)
masonry noncombustible construction (M-NC) - (exterior walls of masonry material (adobe, brick, concrete, gypsum block, hollow concrete block, stone, tile, or similar materials) with floor and roof of metal or other noncumbustible materials)
Mass Marketing Insurance Institute (MMII) -
Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) - (form promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 1983, which chemical manufacturers and importers are required to distribute with an initial shipment of a hazardous chemical to a given employer, describing the chemical's properties, identifying potential hazards, and providing safe use and handling procedures)
maximum allowable concentration (MAC) -
maximum allowable costs list (MAC) - (in the medical area, a list of prescriptions where the reimbursement will be based on the cost of the generic product)
maximum dollar loss (MDL) - (maximum foreseeable loss - worst case scenario under which an estimate is made of the maximum dollar amount that could be lost if a catastrophe occurs, such as a hurricane or firestorm)
maximum foreseeable loss (MFL) - (worst-case scenario under which an estimate is made of the maximum dollar amount that can be lost if a catastrophe occurs, such as a hurricane, firestorm, or flood)
maximum loss expectancy (MLE) -
maximum medical improvement (MMI) - (also known as the healing plateau) (in workers compensation insurance, the point of maximum recovery from a work injury or illness, beyond which the employee will no longer improve with further treatment)
maximum possible loss (maximum foreseeable loss) (MPL) - (worst-case scenario under which an estimate is made of the maximum dollar amount that can be lost if a catastrophe occurs, such as a hurricane, firestorm, or flood)
maximum probable loss (MPL) - (estimate of the maximum dollar amount that can be lost under realistic situations)
McCarran-Ferguson Act (Public Law 15) (MFA) - (federal legislation, enacted in 1945, in which Congress declared that the states were to regulate the insurance industry and that the insurance business was exempt from the Sherman Antitrust law, so long as the states were regulating insurance)
mean/variance/covariance risk modeling method (MVC) - (a special class of statistical risk modeling methods that relies on only three parameters: mean, variance, and covariance matrix)
medical expense reimbursement plan (MERP) - (a plan that provides for corporate reimbursement of specific health care expenses to employees)
Medical Information Bureau (MIB) - (central computerized facility that keeps on file the health history of the applicants for life and health insurance with member MIB companies - essentially serves as a data pool service which stores coded information on the health histories of persons who have applied for insurance in the past)
Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1975 (MICRA) - (California tort reform act, passed in 1975, with the goal of limiting increases in medical malpractice costs)
Medical Savings Account (MSA) - (savings accounts that have tax advantages combined with health insurance plans for the benefit of the employee - both the employee and the employer are permitted to contribute to the MSA)
Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (MMSEA) - (federal law that extended and expanded provisions of the Social Security Act relating to Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP))
Member of American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA) -
mercantile open stock burglary insurance (MOSB) - (an obsolete crime coverage form which provided coverage for loss of property, other than money and securities, stolen from within the insured's premises or taken from a guard inside the premises - coverage is now available under an Insurance Services, Inc. (ISO) crime form E, premises burglary)
Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act of 1983 (MSAWPA) - (federal act that established a private right of action for actual or statutory damages (as well as criminal and administrative sanctions) against employers and contractors of migrant or seasonal agricultural workers who violate the Act's housing and motor vehicle safety requirements, insurance, and job information disclosure requirements)
Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) - (association of life insurance agents who qualify by selling $1 million or more on a face basis in a calendar year - the policies must meet minimum life insurance sales standards predetermined each year by an organization)
minimum capital requirement (MCR) - (requirement, usually by statute, of a capital investment minimum, sufficient to cover losses)
minimum and deposit (M&D) - (feature of excess of loss reinsurance which requires initial premium payments in advance, adjusted annually in arrears, based on exposure audits)
minimum premium (MP) - (the least amount of premium to be charged for providing a particular insurance coverage)
miscellaneous professional liability (MPL) - (generic term for the different liability coverages for those involved in providing providing professional services - physicians, attorneys, accountants, engineers)
Missouri Public Risk Management Association (MPRMA) -
mobile elevated work platform (MEWP) -
money and securities broad form insurance (MSBF) - (an obsolete crime coverage form which covered loss of money and securities from within the insured's premises or from the insured's bank or safe depository - the form was replaced by the theft, disappearance, and destruction of money and securities coverage form C)
monthly debit ordinary insurance (MDO) - (insurance coverage in which premiums are collected monthly on an ordinary life insurance policy)
Mortgage Insurance Companies of America (MICA) -
Motor Carrier Act of 1980 (MCA) - (federal legislation requiring certain vehicles to carry minimum limits of insurance coverage to satisfy public liability and environmental restoration claims that may arise from accidents)
motor truck cargo insurance (MTC) - (an inland marine insurance form covering loss of property in the course of transit, either by common carrier, or on the insured's own vehicles, depending on the form used)
Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Statute (MVFRL) -
motor vehicle record (MVR) - (the record of an automobile driver's accidents and/or traffic violations on file with his or her home state)
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) -
Multiline Insurance Rating Bureau (MLIRB) -
multi-national corporation (MNC) - (corporation that has production facilities, or other fixed assets, in at least one foreign country and makes its major management decisions in a global context)
multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI) - (crop insurance usually providing coverage against crop losses from more than one cause related to adverse weather conditions, such as hail or wind, fire, or flood, or other agricultural-related problems, such as insects, plant disease, and other perils - usually offered under federal crop insurance programs, which involve different types of losses suffered in agricultural production activities)
multi-period excess earnings method (MPEE) - (a financial valuation model often used in valuing customer-related intangible assets that estimates revenues and cash flows attributable to an intangible asset and then deducts portions of the cash flow that can be attributed to supporting assets, such as a brand name or fixed assets, that contributed to the generation of the cash flows)
multiple employer trust (MET) - (a trust consisting of multiple small employers in the same industry that is formed for the purpose of purchasing group health insurance or establishing a self-funded plan at a lower cost than would be available to the employers individually)
multiple employer welfare arrangement (MEWA) - (employer funds and trusts providing health care benefits to individuals)
multiple employer welfare associations arrangements (MEWAS) - (employer funds and trusts providing health care benefits to individuals)
multiple line exclusive agent (MLEA) -
multiple location risk (MLR) -
multiple peril (MP) - (literally, more than one peril - cause of loss - such as fire, windstorm, or collision - or an insurance policy which provides coverage for multiple, or more than one, cause of loss)
Multiple Peril Insurance Conference (MPIC) -
multiyear single limit (MYSL) - (limits under multiple policy (LUMP) years) (an approach to insurance coverage in which a single aggregate limit remains in effect for multiple years, instead of offering coverage for a single year and then having to renew coverage every year for multiple years - used for insurance programs involving low-frequency use, but potentially high liability, such as excess liability, pollution liability, and directors and officers (D&O) liability)
Municipal Bond Insurance Association (MBIA) -
musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) - (medical injury or disease involving the muscles, bones, or connective tissue)