Life and health are two separate lines of authority. A life license covers life insurance and annuities. A health license (usually called accident and health, or accident and sickness) covers medical, disability, and other accident and health coverage. Many people take a combined life and health exam and get both lines at once, but you can usually test for just one.
Your state sets the exact license names, exam codes, and requirements, so treat your state’s candidate handbook as the final word.
What does each line cover?
The NAIC’s Producer Licensing Model Act, a model law states can adopt, defines the two lines this way (paraphrased):
- Life: insurance on human lives, including endowment and annuity benefits. It may include accidental death or dismemberment benefits and disability income benefits.
- Accident and health or sickness: coverage for sickness, bodily injury, or accidental death. It may include disability income benefits.
So annuities sit with life, while medical expense coverage, Medicare supplement policies, and long-term care sit with health. Both definitions mention disability income and accidental death, so how your state assigns a particular product follows its own law.
Are there separate life and health exams?
Generally, yes. The NAIC’s Uniform Licensing Standards call for states to offer a separate test for each major line of authority, with combination exams allowed. Here’s how three large states we checked handle it:
| State | Combined life and health exam | Life-only exam | Health-only exam |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida (handbook, outlines) | 150 scored + 15 pretest questions, 2.75 hours | 85 scored + 10 pretest, 2 hours | 85 scored + 10 pretest, 2 hours |
| California (PSI bulletin) | 150 questions, 195 minutes | 75 questions, 105 minutes | 75 questions, 105 minutes |
| Georgia (handbook, outlines) | 125 scored + 10 pretest, 2.5 hours | 80 scored + 10 pretest, 2 hours | 80 scored + 10 pretest, 2 hours |
Texas lists a combined life, accident, and health exam and a separate life agent exam in its candidate handbook. New York splits its pre-licensing education by line: 20 hours for life and 20 for accident and health, per the Department of Financial Services. These numbers change, so confirm them in your state’s current handbook before you schedule.
Every version includes state law questions along with the general knowledge.
Should you take the combined exam or one line?
Start with the products you’ll sell:
- Life only fits roles built around life insurance and annuities, such as final expense or annuity sales.
- Health only fits roles built around medical, Medicare supplement, disability, or long-term care coverage.
- Combined fits roles that sell both, and it means one exam appointment instead of two if your state offers it.
A combined exam is longer, but it covers both lines in one sitting. Taking one line now and adding the other later is also possible; you’d take the second line’s exam then. If an agency is hiring you, ask which lines of authority the role requires before you register.
How much does the study material overlap?
Quite a bit at the start, then not much. Both lines rest on the same foundations: risk and insurance principles, contract law, insurable interest, applications, underwriting, and privacy rules. After that they split. The life side covers term, whole, universal, and variable life, beneficiaries, riders, annuities, and life insurance taxes. The health side covers cost sharing, managed care, disability income, group coverage and COBRA, health accounts, Medicare, Medicaid, and long-term care.
That’s how CertFuel’s Life and Health course is built: a Shared Foundations chapter, then a Life Insurance chapter and an Accident & Health chapter, with a separate diagnostic for each line. For a life-only exam, study foundations plus life. For health only, study foundations plus health. For the combined exam, study all three.
The course covers general knowledge only. It doesn’t cover your state’s insurance law, and it doesn’t satisfy any state’s pre-licensing education requirement.
What comes after the exam?
Passing is one step. You’ll generally also complete any fingerprinting your state requires, apply for the license, and get appointed by the insurers you’ll represent. The how to get a life and health insurance license guide walks through the steps, and life and health exam cost covers the fees.
If you’re weighing a broader choice, see life and health vs. property and casualty. To plan your prep, start with the study guide.