First of all, MIB Group, Inc. is a member-owned corporation operating in the United States and Canada since 1902. It's very likely that a parallel organization exists in your country as well and may serve the same function as the MIB does.
Secondly, it has nothing to do with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones... Just kidding.
What does MIB do?
- Provides information needs of almost 500 health and life insurance companies in North America that seek health, credit and other information about those consumer-patients who request to be insured.
How do they do it?
- They collect information on people who have applied for individual health or life insurance policies. According to them, they only do this to 15-20 % of applicants.
Why do they do it?
- The MIB states its mission as "detecting and deterring fraud that may occur in the course of obtaining life, health, disability income, critical illness, and long-term care insurance."
- Those savings, the MIB claims, help to lower premiums to insurance-buying consumers.
What Information does the MIB Collect?
- Credit information
- Medical conditions
- Medical tests and results
- Habits such as smoking, overeating, gambling, drugs
- Hazardous avocations and hobbies
- Motor vehicle reports (poor driving history and accidents)
These are just some of the information contained in the article The Medical Information Bureau May Have a File on You found on this link.
Some other questions answered by the article are:
- Why do MIB members need this information?
- Who has access to this information? (Believe it or not, YOU can access your personal information and make corrections.)
- Why is it important to patients?
The article also provides links to the following topics: