Life and Health Insurance Agent Exam Review While most people do not like to dwell on unexpected perils that can occur, the probability of such incidents happening must be properly prepared for. Insurance can provide both individuals and businesses protection against the financial loss that may result from accidents, illnesses, death, and other types of covered situations. Because insurance is a complex product, agents who are involved in selling such policies are required to have an in-depth understanding of how insurance works as well as understand which types of coverage will best fit the particular needs of their clients. As an insurance agent, one is allowed to offer many different lines of coverage – provided that the required training and testing qualifications have been met. Those who wish to sell life and health insurance are required to posses the proper licensing for each state in which they conduct business. In order to obtain a life and health insurance license, individuals must take and successfully pass an exam that is offered by the state licensing boards. Insurance agents and companies have been regulated by the states in which they sell insurance products and by the U.S. government for many years for the purpose of consumer protection. In addition, all insurers must possess an appropriate amount of surplus funds in order to pay the potential future claims of their policy holders. Each of the 50 states has its own specific insurance licensing and testing functions, and all require some amount of pre-licensing education. Different lines of insurance are tested separately, therefore the passing of the Life & Health Insurance exam will only allow an agent to offer and sell life and health insurance related products. A life and health insurance license will typically allow an agent to offer and sell the following products to their clients: • Term life insurance • Whole life insurance (except variable life policies) • Universal life insurance • Individual and group health insurance • Sickness and accident policies • Disability insurance • Long-term care insurance (certain states may require additional education and testing) • Medicare Supplement insurance • Fixed annuities Life & Health Insurance Exam Testing Methods The Life & Health Insurance licensing exams will differ from state to state. Typically, an exam will consist of 150 multiple choice questions. It is common these days that the exam will be given by computer at qualified testing centers throughout a proposed licensee’s state. Some common question formats a test candidate will face will be questions formatted as direct questions, as well as incomplete sentences that require the test taker to fill in the blank, options for choosing “all of the following EXCEPT,” and scenarios whereby the test taker must choose the best answer to fit into a particular situation.