Yes if you do have the full payment for the mortgage insurance you can pay it upfront but instead of paying around $167.00 per month you'll need around $6,450.00 which is the typical mortgage insurance price when you pay it in full up front.
So yes if you do have the money you can pay the mortgage insurance up front without the payments if you can come up with the amount but if you have to get a loan to pay the mortgage insurance up front then it would probably be best to just pay the monthly fee for the mortgage insurance.