Terms Used In Michigan Laws > Chapter 500 > Act 218 of 1956 > Chapter 45 - Insurance Fraud

• Advance tuition payment contract: means a contract entered into by the trust and a purchaser pursuant to section 6 to provide for the higher education of a qualified beneficiary. See Michigan Laws 390.1424
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Authorized agency: means the department of state police; a city, village, or township police department; a county sheriff's department; a United States criminal investigative department or agency; the prosecuting authority of a city, village, township, county, or state or of the United States; the office of financial and insurance regulation; or the department of state. See Michigan Laws 500.4501
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Board: means the board of directors of the Michigan education trust described in section 10. See Michigan Laws 390.1424
• Commissioner: means the director. See Michigan Laws 500.102
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Department: means the department of insurance and financial services. See Michigan Laws 500.102
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fund: means the advance tuition payment fund created in section 9. See Michigan Laws 390.1424
• Health maintenance organization: means that term as defined in section 3501. See Michigan Laws 500.106
• in writing: shall be construed to include printing, engraving, and lithographing; except that if the written signature of a person is required by law, the signature shall be the proper handwriting of the person or, if the person is unable to write, the person's proper mark, which may be, unless otherwise expressly prohibited by law, a clear and classifiable fingerprint of the person made with ink or another substance. See Michigan Laws 8.3q
• Insurer: means a property-casualty insurer, life insurer, third party administrator, self-funded plan, health insurer, health maintenance organization, nonprofit dental care corporation, health care corporation, reinsurer, or any other entity regulated by the insurance laws of this state and providing any form of insurance. See Michigan Laws 500.4501
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Organization: means an organization or internal department of an insurer established to detect and prevent insurance fraud. See Michigan Laws 500.4501
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: includes an individual, insurer, company, association, organization, Lloyds, society, reciprocal or inter-insurance exchange, partnership, syndicate, business trust, corporation, and any other legal entity. See Michigan Laws 500.4501
• policy: means an insurance policy, benefit contract of a self-funded plan, health maintenance organization contract, nonprofit dental care corporation certificate, or health care corporation certificate. See Michigan Laws 500.4501
• Practitioner: means a licensee of this state authorized to practice medicine and surgery, psychology, chiropractic, or law, any other licensee of the state, or an unlicensed health care provider whose services are compensated, directly or indirectly, by insurance proceeds, or a licensee similarly licensed in other states and nations, or the practitioner of any nonmedical treatment rendered in accordance with a recognized religious method of healing. See Michigan Laws 500.4501
• Purchaser: means a person who makes or is obligated to make advance tuition payments pursuant to an advance tuition payment contract. See Michigan Laws 390.1424
• Qualified beneficiary: means any resident of this state. See Michigan Laws 390.1424
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories belonging to the United States; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the district and territories. See Michigan Laws 8.3o
• State institution of higher education: means a college or university described in section 4, 5, or 6 of article VIII of the state constitution of 1963 or any 4-year degree-granting institution established by the state after the effective date of this act, which institution is designated by the state as a state institution of higher education for purposes of this act. See Michigan Laws 390.1424
• Statement: includes , but is not limited to, any notice statement, proof of loss, bill of lading, receipt for payment, invoice, account, estimate of property damages, bill for services, claim form, diagnosis, prescription, hospital or doctor record, X-rays, test result, or other evidence of loss, injury, or expense. See Michigan Laws 500.4501
• steerer: means a person who receives a pecuniary or other benefit from a practitioner, whether directly or indirectly, for procuring or attempting to procure a client, patient, or customer at the direction or request of, or in cooperation with, a practitioner whose intent is to obtain benefits under a contract of insurance or to assert a claim against an insured or an insurer for providing services to the client, patient, or customer. See Michigan Laws 500.4501
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Trust: means the Michigan education trust created in section 5. See Michigan Laws 390.1424
• Tuition: means the quarter or semester charges imposed to attend a state institution of higher education and all mandatory fees required as a condition of enrollment as determined by the board. See Michigan Laws 390.1424
• United States: shall be construed to include the district and territories. See Michigan Laws 8.3o