Mississippi Life & Health Exam Overview
Key Takeaways
- Effective July 1, 2024 (HB 819), Mississippi exempts Life-only applicants from pre-licensing education; the Accident & Health line still requires a 20-hour course with a 70% certification exam.
- Pearson VUE administers the exam: a passing score of 65% is required (lower than the 70% used in most states). The combined Life, Accident & Health exam is 115 scored plus 10 unscored pretest questions (125 total) in 150 minutes; each single-line exam (Life only or Accident & Health only) is 60 scored plus 10 pretest (70 total) in 120 minutes.
- Every exam blends national general-insurance content with Mississippi state-specific law from Title 83 of the Mississippi Code, plus unidentified pretest items that do not affect your score.
- Mississippi is one of about 11 states with an ELECTED Insurance Commissioner (4-year term), who also serves as State Fire Marshal.
- License renewal is biennial on the last day of your birth month and requires 24 CE hours (including 3 ethics hours); a one-time 4-hour annuity Best Interest course is required before selling annuities.
About the Mississippi Life & Health Exam
Welcome to OpenExamPrep's FREE Mississippi Life & Health (L&H) prep guide. The Mississippi Life, Accident & Health or Sickness Producer examination is delivered by Pearson VUE under contract with the Mississippi Insurance Department (MID). Every line exam blends two content pools: general questions on national insurance products and producer duties, and state-specific questions drawn from Title 83 of the Mississippi Code (the insurance title). Tested topics include:
- Mississippi insurance law, MID authority, and producer licensing rules
- Life insurance principles, policy types, and standard provisions
- Annuities and retirement products (with Best Interest duties)
- Accident & sickness coverage, group health, Medicare supplement, and long-term care
- Beneficiary designations, replacement rules, and the Guaranty Association
- Ethics, fiduciary duties, and prohibited/unfair trade practices
Exam Structure
Per the current Pearson VUE Candidate Handbook and content outlines (July 2025), each exam contains a fixed number of scored questions plus unidentified pretest items that do not count toward your result. The pretest questions are mixed in and deliberately not flagged.
| Exam Component | Life Only | Health Only | Life & Health Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Testing Provider | Pearson VUE | Pearson VUE | Pearson VUE |
| Content Mix | General + MS state law | General + MS state law | General + MS state law |
| Scored Questions | 60 | 60 | 115 |
| Pretest (unscored) | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Total Questions | 70 | 70 | 125 |
| Seat Time | 120 minutes | 120 minutes | 150 minutes |
| Passing Score | 65% | 65% | 65% |
Trap to avoid: Mississippi requires only 65% to pass — not the 70% used in most states. Do not confuse the 65% exam pass mark with the 70% you must score on the pre-licensing certification exam for the Health line. Two different thresholds appear on this test.
Pre-Licensing Education: Life vs. Health
Mississippi's pre-licensing rules split sharply by line of authority, and this is a high-yield distinction the state portion loves to test.
Life Insurance — NO Pre-License Education
Effective July 1, 2024, House Bill 819 exempted Life-line applicants from the 20-hour pre-licensing requirement. A Life-only candidate may schedule the exam immediately and self-study. The exemption applies to the Life line only — it does not waive the exam itself.
Accident & Health — 20 Hours Required
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Hours | 20 hours from a MID-approved provider |
| Certification exam | Must pass with 70% or better |
| Certificate validity | 2 years from completion |
| Combined L&H | Only the 20-hour Health course is needed (Life is exempt) |
Worked example: Maria wants a combined Life, Accident & Health license. Because Life is exempt and Health is not, she completes only the 20-hour Health course, passes its 70% certification exam, then sits the combined Pearson VUE exam needing 65%.
License Application & Total Cost
- Complete pre-licensing (Health/combined only) and pass the 70% certification exam.
- Schedule with Pearson VUE online or at (888) 293-4222 — choose a test center or OnVUE remote proctoring.
- Test day: arrive ~30 minutes early (or log in early for OnVUE); bring two forms of ID — one a current government-issued photo ID, both matching the name you registered under. No personal items, notes, or phones are allowed in the testing room; an on-screen calculator is provided. You receive a score report at the test center immediately after finishing.
- Apply for the license through NIPR or Sircon and pay the privilege/license fee; MID reviews the application and issues the license, typically within a few business days of a clean background result.
| Item | Typical Cost |
|---|---|
| Pre-license education (Health only) | $150 – $300 |
| Pearson VUE exam fee | $50 |
| License application / privilege tax | $100 |
| Estimated total | $150 – $450 |
License Maintenance & Continuing Education
The Mississippi resident producer license is renewed biennially on the last day of your birth month. You must complete 24 CE hours each two-year term: 21 in lines you hold plus 3 hours of ethics. Key rules:
- No carry-over of excess hours, and you cannot repeat the same course within a term.
- New licensees with a term of 18 months or less complete 12 hours (no ethics) for that first term.
- Age/experience exemption: producers 65+ with 25+ continuous years licensed are CE-exempt.
- Annuity Best Interest: a one-time 4-hour course is required before soliciting annuities, reflecting Mississippi's adoption of the NAIC best-interest model that holds the producer to the consumer's interest at recommendation.
- Long-term care: producers selling LTC must complete an initial 8-hour training plus ongoing periodic refresher hours before each renewal.
- Reinstatement: a license that lapses can generally be reinstated within a grace window by completing outstanding CE and paying late fees; let it expire too long and you may have to re-test.
A practical CE strategy is to bank hours early in the term: because no carry-over is allowed and a course cannot be repeated within a term, spreading 24 hours across the two years (rather than cramming before your birth-month deadline) avoids a renewal-day scramble and reduces the risk of a lapse that interrupts your authority to sell.
What This Guide Covers
Maria is applying for a combined Life, Accident & Health license in Mississippi. Which pre-licensing education must she complete?
What is the passing score for the Mississippi Life, Accident & Health producer exam at Pearson VUE?
A candidate notices some questions on topics never mentioned in their study materials. What is the most likely explanation?
How is the Mississippi Insurance Commissioner selected, and what additional role does the office hold?
How many continuing education hours must a Mississippi resident L&H producer complete each two-year term, and what is the renewal deadline?