Prepare for the life and health insurance exam
Learn the life, annuity, and health insurance concepts your state exam is built on. Study with lessons, practice questions, flashcards, and separate life and health diagnostics in CertFuel’s Free Beta.
To sell life insurance, annuities, or health coverage, you need a producer license from your state. Each state’s insurance department sets its own exam and hires a testing vendor to deliver it. Many states offer a life exam, a health exam, and a combined life and health exam.
Every state exam covers general insurance knowledge, which is similar from state to state, and state law, which is not. Texas, for example, scores 100 general questions and 30 Texas questions. The question count, time limit, passing score, fee, and any required pre-licensing hours all depend on your state. Your state’s candidate handbook is the source for those rules.
CertFuel teaches the general-knowledge portion. Our licensing steps guide walks through the process, and the difficulty guide explains what makes the exam hard.
The combined life and health exam looks different in each state. These five states show the range. Use your own state’s candidate handbook for the current rules before you schedule.
| State | Vendor | Questions | Time | To pass | Exam fee | Pre-licensing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | Pearson VUE | 130 scored (100 general + 30 Texas) + 15 unscored | 150 min | Scaled 70 | $49 | None required |
| Florida | Pearson VUE | 150 scored + 15 unscored | 165 min | 70% | $44 | 60 hours |
| California | PSI | 150 scored + 1 to 10 unscored | 195 min | 60% | $55* | 12-hour ethics course before the license issues |
| New York | PSI | 150 scored + 5 to 10 unscored | 150 min | 70% | $40 | 40 hours, before the exam |
| Georgia | Pearson VUE | 125 scored + 10 unscored | 150 min | 70% | $67 | 16 hours |
Checked October 28, 2026 against each state’s candidate handbook (linked from the state name). *California adds a $43 convenience fee at PSI test centers. Unscored questions are pretest items that do not count toward your result. Florida, California, New York, and Georgia also offer separate life and health exams; Texas offers a separate life-only exam. CertFuel’s course covers general knowledge and does not count toward any state’s pre-licensing hours.
Start with a diagnostic to see which units need the most work. Read a lesson, explain the concept in your own words, then answer questions that change the policy, the person, or the claim. Review why each wrong answer fails, including when you guessed correctly.
The full course contains 1,700+ practice questions and 600+ flashcards, plus a separate 50-question diagnostic for life and for health. Use the study guide to plan your weeks, and the podcast and videos to revisit units away from your desk.
Shared foundations
Risk, insurance contracts, insurable interest, needs analysis, applications, underwriting, and consumer privacy. Both lines build on this chapter.
2 unitsLife insurance and annuities
Term, whole, universal, indexed, and variable life; ownership and beneficiaries; provisions and riders; annuities; group, business, retirement, and tax.
8 unitsAccident and health
Cost sharing, managed care, policy provisions, disability income, AD&D, group health and COBRA, HSAs, Medicare, Medicaid, and long-term care.
10 unitsStudy the shared foundations plus the line you are testing for. If you are taking a combined exam, study all three chapters. State-specific law is outside this course, so pair it with your state’s handbook and any required pre-licensing material.
Failed the Life and Health exam?
Sort out who owns, who is insured, and who gets paid, then study state law as its own step.
scenario-based recovery planAiden AI Tutor
Get help understanding the lesson or practice question you are viewing.
included with your courseLife and Health Flashcards
Recall a term before revealing its answer, then open the matching course lesson.
24 sample cardsLife and Health Cheat Sheet
Print one-paragraph summaries of all 20 units and return to the lessons behind anything unfamiliar.
20 course unitsLife and Health Video Lessons
Watch short topic videos in course order, then continue in the matching lesson.
70 videosLife and Health Podcast Course
Listen to each course unit and a full-course review, with browser playback and resume.
21 episodesGetting Started
Learn how state licensing works, what it costs, how hard the exam is, and how to plan your study time.
licensing guidesExam Topic Guides
Walk through the foundations, life, and health chapters with worked scenarios.
topic guidesCompare Licenses
See how the life and health license relates to other insurance and securities licenses.
comparisonsInsurance Agent License Path
Selling variable annuities or adding investment advice? See how the SIE, Series 6, 63, and 65 build on your insurance license.
next licensesWhat is the life and health insurance exam?
It is the state licensing exam for insurance producers (agents) who sell life insurance, annuities, and accident and health coverage. Each state sets its own exam through its insurance department and a testing vendor. Many states offer separate life and health exams, a combined exam, or both, and every state exam includes questions on that state’s insurance laws.
Is CertFuel life and health prep free?
The Life and Health course is currently available in Free Beta, including lessons, practice questions, flashcards, and two diagnostics. There is no published beta end date, and Free Beta is not a promise of permanent free access. The public flashcards, cheat sheet, videos, and podcast require no account.
Does CertFuel cover my state’s insurance laws?
No. The course covers the general life, accident, and health knowledge that state exams share. Your exam also tests state-specific rules such as licensing, replacement, and marketing requirements. Use your state’s candidate handbook and any required pre-licensing course for that portion.
Do I need a sponsor to take the life and health exam?
No. Insurance producer licenses are issued by your state, not through a sponsoring firm. Some states require a pre-licensing course before you can schedule the exam, and an insurer usually needs to appoint you before you can sell its products.
How many questions are on the life and health exam?
It depends on your state. Among five large states we checked, the combined exam has 125 to 150 scored questions and 150 to 195 minutes. Passing is 70% in Florida, New York, and Georgia, 60% in California, and a scaled 70 in Texas. Your state’s candidate handbook lists the current numbers.
What licenses do insurance agents add after life and health?
Only what the products require. Fixed insurance and annuities need only the state license, plus any annuity training your state requires. Variable annuities, variable life, and mutual funds are securities, so agents usually add the SIE, the Series 6 or 7 through a sponsoring broker-dealer, the Series 63, and a variable products authority where the state requires it. Fee-based advice adds the Series 65 or 66. The Insurance Agent License Path guide on this page walks through each step.
Should I take the life exam, the health exam, or both?
It depends on what you plan to sell. Life insurance and annuities fall under the life line; disability, medical, Medicare supplement, and long-term care fall under accident and health. Many new agents get both. The CertFuel course has a separate 50-question diagnostic for each line.
Where should I start studying?
Start with the shared foundations chapter, since contract law, applications, and underwriting appear on both lines. Then take the diagnostic for the line you are testing for, study the weakest units first, and finish with the cheat sheet and your state law material.
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