The life and health exam is harder than most people expect, mainly because of vocabulary. Many of the questions turn on the difference between two provisions that sound alike, and every state adds its own insurance law on top of the general material. TDI’s career page puts it plainly: “The tests aren’t easy.” The good news is that it’s a reading-and-definitions exam, not a math exam, so steady practice pays off.
How many questions are on the life and health exam?
Between 135 and 165 questions in the five states we checked, depending on how many unscored pretest items the state includes. Scored questions run from 125 to 150. Here’s the combined life and health exam in each:
| State | Total questions | Scored | Time | Passing score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | See TDI handbook | See TDI handbook | 150 minutes | Scaled score of 70 |
| Florida | 165 | 150 | 2.75 hours | 70% |
| California | 150, plus about 1 to 10 unscored | 150 | 195 minutes | 60% |
| New York | 150, plus 5 to 10 experimental | 150 | 2.5 hours | 70% |
| Georgia | 135 | 125 | 2.5 hours | 70% |
Sources: Pearson VUE candidate handbooks for Texas, Florida, and Georgia; PSI bulletins for California and New York.
There isn’t one national passing score. Most of these states use 70%, California uses 60%, and Texas reports a scaled score of 70 on a 0 to 100 scale, which isn’t the same as 70% correct. If you take the life and health lines as separate exams, each one is shorter: Georgia’s separate Life and Accident and Sickness exams each have 80 scored questions plus 10 pretest items in 2 hours.
How long do you get per question?
Roughly a minute per question in most of these states. Georgia gives 150 minutes for 135 questions, Florida 165 minutes for 165, and Texas 150 minutes for 145. California is the most generous at 195 minutes for about 150 to 160 questions. That’s enough time to read each stem twice, which matters more on this exam than speed.
What makes the life and health exam hard?
Four things come up again and again.
Contract vocabulary. The exam expects precise meanings for words that sound casual: owner, insured, beneficiary, premium payer, assignment, lapse. A question about who can change a beneficiary depends entirely on which of those roles the person holds. CertFuel’s lesson on ownership and beneficiaries walks through those roles with examples.
Provisions that sound alike. Grace period and reinstatement both deal with late premiums, but grace keeps a policy from lapsing while reinstatement restores one that already lapsed. Own-occupation and any-occupation disability definitions test different things. Notice of claim and proof of loss are separate steps with separate deadlines. The life provisions lesson and the health claim provisions lesson cover the pairs that get confused most.
State law. Every state exam includes its own insurance laws and regulations, such as licensing and replacement rules. Texas includes its own state-law portion, while Florida, Georgia, California, and New York fold state law into one exam. You can’t learn this part from a general course; your state’s candidate handbook and content outline list the topics.
Light math. Expect arithmetic, not formulas: comparing annual and monthly premium totals, or working out how a withdrawal reduces a death benefit. Florida’s handbook says its exams don’t require a calculator at all.
What is the life and health exam pass rate?
There’s no national pass rate, because there’s no national exam. Each state runs its own, and none of the five candidate handbooks above reports a pass rate. One regulator does publish a snapshot: TDI’s career page says the Texas pass rate for the life, accident, and health exam was 60% in February 2021. That is one state in one month, so treat it as a rough signal, not a current national figure. Be skeptical of any single percentage quoted for “the” life and health exam, and of prep providers’ figures, which describe only their own students.
A better question is whether you can explain why the right answer is right. If you can’t, your practice score is probably flattering you.
Is the life and health exam harder than property and casualty?
They’re different rather than harder or easier. Life and health leans on contract provisions, beneficiaries, annuities, and health plan rules; property and casualty leans on coverage forms, perils, and liability. The life and health vs. property and casualty comparison covers what each license lets you sell. If you’re weighing a securities license instead, see life and health vs. Series 6.
How can you make the exam easier?
Learn the general material in order, then practice it under exam-style wording. The three topic guides follow the same structure as the exam’s general-knowledge portion:
CertFuel’s Life and Health course adds 1,700+ practice questions, 600+ flashcards, and separate 50-question Life and Health diagnostics to show where you’re weak. It’s available in Free Beta. It covers the general-knowledge material only, not state law, and it doesn’t satisfy any state’s pre-licensing requirement. The study guide lays out a two-to-four-week plan.