Free LA Life & Health Exam Flashcards

The Louisiana Department of Insurance (LDI) regulates producers and insurers under Title 22. The Commissioner of Insurance holds general duties and enforcement powers under La. R.S. 22:2 and 22:1967, including rulemaking, examinations, and discipline.

Individual producer and business entity licenses (La. R.S. 22:1542, 1546), resident versus nonresident licenses (22:1546, 1548, 1560), and temporary licenses (22:1553) for special situations such as a producer's death or incapacity.

Louisiana producer licenses renew every two years on the last day of the licensee's birth month. The renewal fee is $75 per line of authority effective with the January 2026 fee update (La. R.S. 22:1547(C)).

24 hours of CE including 3 hours of ethics (37:XI:10.703, .705, Rule 10.711). Starting with July 2027 renewals, LDI adds a 2-hour legislative-update requirement on top of the existing 24-hour framework.

A license grants legal authority to transact insurance; an appointment (22:1547, 1558) is a separate filing that authorizes a specific insurer to have that producer represent it. Appointments end through termination filings (22:1559), while the license itself can continue independently.

150 questions, a 160-minute time limit, and a 70% passing score, administered only at PSI test centers -- remote testing ended July 8, 2024. No prelicensing-hour requirement is currently listed for Series 103, but the $53 fee and background/fingerprint steps still apply.

Misrepresentation, false advertising, unfair discrimination, and rebating are all defined unfair trade practices under 22:1964, alongside boycott/coercion/intimidation, false financial statements, and wrongful refusal to insure.

Rebating is giving a prospect part of the commission, a gift, or another inducement not stated in the policy to influence a sale. La. R.S. 22:1964(8) prohibits rebating as an unfair trade practice, regardless of whether the customer requests it.

Louisiana's replacement regulation (Reg 70, La. Admin. Code 37:XIII, Ch. 89) requires the producer to leave all sales material with the applicant and ensure required replacement notices/comparisons are provided, protecting the consumer from losing existing coverage without full information.

No. La. R.S. 22:2098 and Reg 37:XIII.901-.909 specifically prohibit using the existence of the guaranty association as an inducement or advertising point -- consumers must not be led to rely on guaranty coverage when choosing an insurer.

It sets standards for protecting the privacy of nonpublic personal financial information collected from consumers, including notice and opt-out rights -- Louisiana's state-level counterpart to the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act privacy rule.

Insurance fraud covers knowingly presenting false statements or documents in connection with an insurance transaction. It is both an unfair trade practice and a distinct criminal offense under Louisiana law, subject to license discipline and criminal penalties.

Avoidance (eliminate the exposure), retention (keep the risk, e.g., a deductible), reduction (lower the chance/severity of loss), and sharing/transfer (shift it to another party, e.g., buying insurance).

A peril is the actual cause of loss (fire, accident, sickness). A hazard is a condition that increases the chance or severity of a loss (e.g., faulty wiring). Risk is the uncertainty of loss, and loss is the actual reduction in value.

Offer, acceptance, consideration, competent parties, and legal purpose. A producer's authority to bind an insurer can be express, implied, or apparent -- all rooted in the law of agency.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (consumer report use), 18 USC 1033/1034 (bars felons convicted of dishonesty/breach-of-trust crimes from the insurance business without regulator consent), Gramm-Leach-Bliley privacy rules, and the National Do Not Call Registry, plus baseline Affordable Care Act provisions for health plans.

A MEC is a life policy overfunded beyond the IRS 7-pay test limits. Its cash-value withdrawals and loans are taxed like an annuity (gain-first, LIFO) and may trigger a 10% penalty before age 59.5, unlike a properly funded life policy's tax-favored access to basis.

Insurable interest -- a genuine financial or emotional loss the owner would suffer if the insured died. For life insurance, it must exist at the time of application; unlike property insurance, it does not need to continue at the time of loss.

Survivor protection (income replacement for dependents), estate creation (building an instant estate before assets accumulate), and estate conservation/liquidity (providing cash to pay estate taxes/debts without forcing an asset sale).

Buy-sell funding (funds a partner buyout at death), key person coverage (indemnifies the business for the loss of a critical employee), and executive bonus plans (Section 162 bonus arrangements funding an executive's personal policy).

Mortality (expected death claims), interest (assumed investment earnings that offset premium), and expense (loading for administration, commissions, and overhead) -- summarized as the mortality-interest-expense formula.

Field underwriting is the producer's initial screening at application (collecting accurate answers, a statement of good health, and premium). Company underwriting is the insurer's formal risk classification (preferred, standard, substandard, or declined) using that information plus other sources.

A peril in health coverage is accidental injury; sickness is illness/disease. Both trigger different benefit types tested on Series 103: loss-of-income (disability), medical expense, and long-term care expense benefits.

Hospital indemnity (pays a fixed daily benefit), critical illness/dread disease (lump sum on diagnosis), and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) -- each pays for a narrow, specified event rather than broad medical costs.

Level term keeps the death benefit constant for the term; decreasing term (common for mortgage protection) reduces the benefit over time while premium stays level; increasing term raises the benefit, often to keep pace with inflation.

Universal life unbundles the policy into separate mortality, expense, and cash-value/interest components, giving the owner flexibility to adjust premium payments and death benefit within limits -- traditional whole life has fixed, bundled premiums and guarantees.

Under La. R.S. 22:942, a departing group life insured has a conversion right to an individual policy without evidence of insurability, usually within a limited window (commonly 31 days) after group coverage ends.

Joint life covers two lives and pays at the FIRST death. Survivorship life covers two lives and pays at the SECOND (last) death -- often used for estate-tax liquidity planning since the tax obligation typically arises after both spouses die.

La. R.S. 22:931 requires a 10-day free-look period from receipt of the policy. If surrendered within that window because the policy isn't as explained or understood, the insurer must immediately refund any premium already paid.

After a set period (typically 2 years) from issue, the insurer can no longer contest the policy's validity or deny a claim based on application misstatements -- it gives the beneficiary certainty that a valid claim will be paid.

Cash surrender value (take the cash and end coverage), extended term insurance (use the cash value to buy the same face amount as term for as long as it lasts), and reduced paid-up insurance (buy a smaller, fully paid whole life policy) -- all preserve some benefit from premiums already paid.

Interest only leaves the death proceeds with the insurer, paying the beneficiary just the interest earned while principal stays available later. Fixed-period pays out both principal and interest in equal installments over a beneficiary-chosen number of years until the proceeds are exhausted.

An accelerated benefit rider advances part of the death benefit early, usually for a qualifying terminal or chronic illness. A long-term care rider is structured specifically to reimburse LTC expenses and may use a separate benefit pool rather than simply accelerating the death benefit.

A revocable beneficiary can be changed by the owner at any time without consent. An irrevocable beneficiary's designation cannot be changed, and the owner cannot exercise certain policy rights (like taking a loan or changing beneficiaries) without that beneficiary's written consent.

The accumulation period is when premiums/purchase payments grow tax-deferred before payout begins. The annuity period starts at annuitization, when the contract converts accumulated value into a stream of periodic income payments.

The owner controls the contract (pays premiums, makes elections); the annuitant is the measuring life whose age/life expectancy determines payments; the beneficiary receives any remaining value at death. One person can fill all three roles, but the annuitant generally cannot be changed once selected.

A deferred annuity has an accumulation period before payments start, often years later. An immediate annuity begins income payments within about a year of a single lump-sum premium -- there is no meaningful accumulation phase.

A fixed annuity credits a guaranteed minimum interest rate set by the insurer. An equity-indexed annuity credits interest linked to a market index's performance (subject to caps/participation rates) while still guaranteeing a minimum floor -- more upside potential, more complexity.

After the policy has been in force for a specified period (commonly 2 years), the insurer cannot deny a claim by contesting statements made in the application, except for fraudulent misstatements in most states' uniform provisions.

Change of occupation (adjusts benefits if the insured moves to a riskier job), misstatement of age (adjusts benefit rather than voiding the policy), and illegal occupation or intoxicants/narcotics exclusions -- all optional add-ons beyond the mandatory uniform provisions.

A probationary period is the time right after issue during which sickness-based claims (not accidents) aren't covered. An elimination period is a waiting period after a covered disability/loss begins before benefits start being paid -- like a time-based deductible.

Own occupation pays benefits if the insured can't perform their specific job, even if capable of other work -- more generous coverage. Any occupation pays only if the insured cannot perform any job reasonably suited to their education/experience -- a stricter standard, often used after an initial own-occ period.

BOE reimburses a disabled business owner's ongoing fixed overhead (rent, utilities, employee salaries), not personal income, so the business can stay open while the owner recovers -- distinct from key person or disability buy-sell coverage.

HMOs require a primary care gatekeeper and in-network care (lowest cost, least flexibility). PPOs allow out-of-network care at reduced reimbursement without a gatekeeper. POS plans blend both -- gatekeeper referrals for full in-network benefits, but an out-of-network option at a higher cost.

Portability -- crediting prior creditable coverage to reduce new preexisting-condition waiting periods when moving between group plans -- and privacy protections over individually identifiable health information (the Privacy Rule).

Employees and dependents losing group coverage due to a qualifying event (termination, reduced hours, divorce, etc.) at employers with 20+ employees can continue the same group coverage temporarily, but the qualified beneficiary pays the full premium plus up to a 2% administrative fee.

Part A: hospital/inpatient care. Part B: physician/outpatient services. Part C: Medicare Advantage (private-plan alternative bundling A+B, often D). Part D: prescription drug coverage.

Medigap works alongside Original Medicare (A+B) to pay leftover cost-sharing (deductibles/coinsurance) using standardized lettered plans. Medicare Advantage (Part C) replaces Original Medicare entirely with a private managed-care plan -- you generally can't have both at once.

Under La. R.S. 22:1575, producers need one-time initial training of at least 8 hours, plus ongoing training of at least 4 hours every 2 years, before selling, soliciting, or negotiating LTC insurance in Louisiana.

Effective September 20, 2024, Louisiana adopted the NAIC best-interest annuity standard (Reg 89). Producers licensed on or after that date need a one-time 4-hour Annuity Best Interest course; producers already certified needed a 1-hour update course by March 20, 2025.