Managed Care Plan Health care plan based on practice guidelines or protocols that health care providers must follow. The goals of a managed care plan are to lower health care costs, provide as comprehensive coverage as possible, and improve the methods used to select health care providers.

Marginal Tax Bracket A tax bracket that applies to a particular range of income.

Marginal Tax Rate The amount of tax imposed on an additional dollar of income.

Marital Deduction Provision in the federal estate and gift tax law allowing all the assets of a marriage partner to pass to the surviving spouse free of estate taxes.

Medical Information Bureau (MIB) A central computerized facility that keeps on file the health history of the applicants for life and health insurance with member MIB companies. This information is made available to insurance companies for the purpose of evaluating an applicant's insurability and preventing fraud.

Modified Endowment Contract (MEC) A special class of life insurance. Funds withdrawn from a MEC policy in the form of policy loans, partial surrenders, assignments, and pledges are treated as gross income to the recipient and therefore subject to taxation.

Mortality (Actuarial) Table A statistical table showing the rate of death at each age in terms of the number of deaths per thousand, indicating the probability of a certain number of people from a group dying in a given year. Insurance companies use mortality (actuarial) tables to establish premiums for different age groups, to base life estates, and annuity valuations.

Mortality Charge The cost of the insurance protection based on a statistical projection of future deaths.

Mutual Insurance Company An insurance company owned by its policyholders. Mutual insurance company stock is not available for purchase on the stock exchange. Members are policy holders entitled to name the directors or trustees and to receive dividends or rebates on future premiums.