This is a non-profit association whose mission it is to keep people from leaving out or misrepresenting important medical information when they apply for many kinds of insurance—including life, disability, long-term care, or health insurance. The association is made up of about 600 U.S. and Canadian life insurance companies that pool their information about the past medical histories of applicants and clients. M.I.B.'s mission in serving these member companies is fraud detection, and risk management. The more an insurance company knows about your health history, the better it can assess your risk level, and price your life insurance policy accordingly.

When you apply for life insurance, the insurance company will get your medical records from the Medical Information Board and compare the information in your application with that in your file. There are few secrets anymore, so it's always best to simply tell the truth about any health issues you may have.