100+ Free IAI SA1 Practice Questions

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2026 Statistics

Key Facts: IAI SA1 Exam

3h 15m

Exam Duration

IAI SA1 format

50%

Pass Mark

IAI SP/SA marking rule

36 months

Max PED Waiting

IRDAI Master Circular 2024

5 years

Moratorium Period

IRDAI Master Circular 2024

150%

Min Solvency Ratio

IRDAI solvency norms

Syllabus Domains

SA1 prep coverage

IAI Subject SA1 Health and Care Specialist Advanced is a written application paper of 3 hours 15 minutes that builds on Subject SP1 and tests senior-level health and care actuarial practice in the Indian jurisdiction. The syllabus spans the IRDAI-regulated market, product design and pricing, underwriting and claims, reserving and capital, reinsurance, healthcare financing and risk management, applying the 2024 IRDAI Insurance Products Regulations and Master Circular on Health Insurance Business (which cut the PED waiting period to 36 months and the moratorium to 5 years). IAI passes SP and SA candidates at a minimum of 50%. This free prep offers 100 MCQ knowledge-practice questions; the real exam is a written paper, not multiple choice.

Sample IAI SA1 Practice Questions

Try these sample questions to test your IAI SA1 exam readiness. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.

1Under the IRDAI Master Circular on Health Insurance Business (29 May 2024), what is the maximum waiting period an Indian insurer may impose for a Pre-Existing Disease (PED)?

A.36 months

B.24 months

C.12 months

D.48 months

Explanation: IRDAI reduced the maximum PED waiting period from 48 months to 36 months (3 years). A senior health and care actuary must price and reserve products consistent with this cap, since shorter exclusion windows accelerate the emergence of PED claims.

2Following the 2024 IRDAI reforms, after how many continuous policy years does the moratorium provision prevent an insurer from contesting a health claim on grounds of non-disclosure or misrepresentation (except established fraud)?

A.7 years

B.5 years

C.3 years

D.8 years

Explanation: The moratorium period was cut from 8 years to 5 years (60 months). After 5 continuous years, claims cannot be repudiated for non-disclosure or misrepresentation except in cases of proven fraud, which materially affects late-duration claims experience assumptions.

3The IRDAI (Insurance Products) Regulations, 2024 require that, before product approval, due diligence on capital, profitability, underwriting and reinsurance risks be recorded by which body within the insurer?

A.The General Insurance Council

B.The Appointed Actuary alone

C.The Product Management Committee

D.The Reserve Bank of India

Explanation: Under the 2024 Products Regulations, the Product Management Committee (PMC) must carry out due diligence and record concurrence on product-related risks including capital, profitability, underwriting and reinsurance before approval. The Appointed Actuary contributes but approval is a committee responsibility.

4A health insurer offers an indemnity hospitalisation product reimbursing actual costs subject to a sum insured. Which principal risk is MOST directly transferred to the insurer under this design compared with a fixed-benefit (Hospital Cash) product?

A.Currency risk

B.Operational settlement risk

C.Persistency risk

D.Medical inflation and cost-escalation risk

Explanation: Indemnity products reimburse actual treatment costs, so the insurer bears medical inflation and cost-escalation risk directly. Fixed-benefit products pay a defined amount per event, capping the insurer's exposure to rising treatment costs and shifting that risk to the policyholder.

5When pricing a long-term care (LTC) product, which actuarial assumption is generally the MOST material driver of cost and the most difficult to estimate reliably?

A.Disability/morbidity transition intensities and recovery rates

B.Marketing acquisition cost

C.Stamp duty

D.Lapse rate in the first policy year

Explanation: LTC cost is dominated by the intensity of becoming care-dependent and the duration of dependency, captured through morbidity transition and recovery intensities in a multi-state model. These are sparse-data, long-horizon assumptions and are the chief source of pricing uncertainty.

6An actuary prices a one-year hospitalisation cover. Expected claim frequency is 0.15 per policy and the expected claim severity is Rs 60,000. If expenses and profit loading total 25% of the risk premium and there is no investment offset, what office (gross) premium per policy is required?

A.Rs 9,000

B.Rs 11,250

C.Rs 12,000

D.Rs 13,500

Explanation: Risk premium = frequency x severity = 0.15 x 60,000 = Rs 9,000. Loading of 25% gives office premium = 9,000 x 1.25 = Rs 11,250. This frequency-severity build-up is the standard short-term health pricing approach.

7In Critical Illness (CI) product design, an 'accelerated' benefit structure means the CI sum assured is:

A.Indexed to medical inflation annually

B.Paid in addition to the death benefit on a life cover

C.Paid as an advance of, and reduces, the death benefit on the same life cover

D.Paid only if the insured survives 30 days after a death claim

Explanation: An accelerated CI rider advances part or all of the death benefit on diagnosis of a covered condition, reducing the remaining death benefit. A 'standalone' or 'additional' CI benefit instead pays on top of the death cover, which is more expensive to price.

8Which underwriting approach is MOST appropriate for a large group medical insurance scheme covering all employees of a corporate, where individual medical evidence would be impractical?

A.Declining all members with any disclosed condition

B.Pricing each member by individual mortality table only

C.Full medical examination for every member

D.Experience rating combined with a free-cover limit and minimal individual underwriting

Explanation: Group schemes use a free-cover limit below which no individual evidence is required, relying on the group's size and natural selection of an employed population. Pricing is typically experience-rated using the scheme's own claims history, with individual underwriting reserved for amounts above the free-cover limit.

9Under the 2024 IRDAI Master Circular, when an insured requests cashless authorisation, the insurer must grant FINAL authorisation upon receipt of the hospital's discharge request within:

A.3 hours

B.24 hours

C.7 days

D.1 hour

Explanation: IRDAI mandates that final cashless authorisation be granted within 3 hours of receiving the discharge request, with initial authorisation within 1 hour of request. These service standards affect claims-handling operations and the insurer's liquidity and reserving for claims in transit.

10A reserving actuary estimates outstanding claims for a health portfolio. Which reserve specifically covers claims that have occurred but not yet been reported to the insurer at the valuation date?

A.Unearned Premium Reserve (UPR)

B.Incurred But Not Reported (IBNR) reserve

C.Premium Deficiency Reserve (PDR)

D.Solvency margin

Explanation: The IBNR reserve provides for claim events that have occurred before the valuation date but have not yet been reported. It is distinct from the UPR (unexpired risk on earned premium) and the PDR (deficiency where future premiums are inadequate), and is typically estimated using chain-ladder or Bornhuetter-Ferguson methods.

About the IAI SA1 Exam

IAI Subject SA1 Health and Care Specialist Advanced develops expertise to apply actuarial principles to health and care business in the Indian market, covering IRDAI regulation, product design and pricing, underwriting and claims, reserving and capital, reinsurance, healthcare financing and risk management to the level expected of a senior manager.

Assessment

Written specialist-advanced application paper on India-jurisdiction health and care actuarial practice

Time Limit

3 hours 15 minutes

Passing Score

Minimum 50%, with the final mark rounded up to the next whole number (IAI SP/SA marking rule)

Exam Fee

Set by IAI for Specialist Advanced subjects; check the current IAI exam-fees page (Institute of Actuaries of India (IAI))

IAI SA1 Exam Content Outline

18%

Indian Health and Care Market and Regulation (IRDAI)

Apply the IRDAI Insurance Products Regulations 2024 and Master Circular on Health Insurance Business, including the 36-month PED cap, 5-year moratorium, standardisation, portability, file-and-use approval and the Appointed Actuary's statutory role.

20%

Product Design and Pricing

Design and price indemnity, hospital cash, critical illness, income protection and long-term care products using morbidity multi-state models, frequency-severity build-ups, credibility, profit testing and allowance for medical inflation.

16%

Underwriting and Claims Management

Manage medical and financial underwriting, group free-cover limits, anti-selection and moral hazard, TPAs, cashless authorisation service standards, portability port-in risk and claims-leakage controls.

16%

Reserving and Capital

Estimate IBNR, premium deficiency and disability-in-payment reserves using chain-ladder and Bornhuetter-Ferguson methods, and apply the India solvency margin, economic capital, embedded value and analysis of surplus.

10%

Reinsurance

Select and apply quota share, surplus, risk and catastrophe excess-of-loss, aggregate stop-loss, original-terms and financial reinsurance, ceding and sliding-scale commissions, and manage counterparty concentration.

10%

Healthcare Financing

Understand PM-JAY and public schemes, out-of-pocket expenditure, managed care and provider payment models including capitation, pay-as-you-go social financing and digital health data infrastructure.

10%

Risk Management

Apply ERM, risk appetite, ORSA, stress and scenario testing, and identify operational, data, basis and pandemic accumulation risks affecting a health and care insurer.

How to Pass the IAI SA1 Exam

What You Need to Know

Passing score: Minimum 50%, with the final mark rounded up to the next whole number (IAI SP/SA marking rule)
Assessment: Written specialist-advanced application paper on India-jurisdiction health and care actuarial practice
Time limit: 3 hours 15 minutes
Exam fee: Set by IAI for Specialist Advanced subjects; check the current IAI exam-fees page

Keys to Passing

Work through all 100 available questions
Review every answer and explanation
Track weak areas and revisit them
Use our AI tutor for tough concepts

IAI SA1 Study Tips from Top Performers

1Anchor every answer in current IRDAI rules: know the 36-month PED cap, the 5-year moratorium, cashless authorisation timelines, portability and standardisation from the 2024 Master Circular.

2Treat morbidity as a multi-state problem with onset and recovery intensities, not a single decrement, and be ready to justify assumptions where India-specific data is scarce.

3Practise frequency-severity and profit-test calculations under medical inflation, and explain how design levers such as co-payments, sub-limits and deductibles control cost.

4Be precise about reserving methods: distinguish IBNR, premium deficiency and gross premium valuation, and know when chain-ladder distortions require adjustment or Bornhuetter-Ferguson.

5Link reinsurance choice to the risk being managed: per-risk excess-of-loss for large claims, catastrophe and stop-loss for accumulation, and watch reinsurer counterparty concentration.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is the IAI SA1 exam?

IAI Subject SA1 Health and Care is a written specialist-advanced application paper of 3 hours 15 minutes. It tests the application of actuarial principles to Indian health and care business at a senior-management level.

What is the passing mark for IAI SA1?

IAI declares candidates passed in the SP and SA series by scoring a minimum of 50%, with the final mark rounded up to the next whole number. There is no separate negative-marking deduction on the written application paper.

What does SA1 cover?

SA1 covers the IRDAI-regulated Indian health and care market, product design and pricing, underwriting and claims, reserving and capital, reinsurance, healthcare financing and risk management. It mirrors the IFoA SA1 syllabus applied to the Indian jurisdiction.

Is IAI SA1 multiple choice?

No. The real SA1 exam is a written application paper, not multiple choice. This free prep provides 100 MCQ knowledge-practice questions so you can drill the technical content efficiently before practising full written answers.

What India-specific regulation matters most for SA1?

The IRDAI Insurance Products Regulations 2024 and the Master Circular on Health Insurance Business (29 May 2024) are central. They cut the maximum PED waiting period to 36 months, reduced the moratorium to 5 years, and set cashless service standards.

What should I study before SA1?

SA1 builds on Subject SP1 Health and Care Principles and the earlier Core Principles and Core Practices subjects. You are expected to be fluent in morbidity modelling, pricing and reserving before applying them to Indian health and care business.