Standalone Coverage Map
Key Takeaways
- About 75-80% of the North Dakota Life & Health exam is national insurance content; 20-25% is North Dakota-specific law.
- National questions are conceptual and applied; North Dakota questions are precise fact recall from Title 26.1 and Insurance Department rules.
- Study national chapters first to build vocabulary, then the health block, and finish with the three North Dakota chapters.
- Use the blueprint-to-chapter table to remediate weak practice questions by jumping directly to the mapped chapter.
- Score 80%+ on national and state practice sections separately before scheduling the exam.
How This Guide Maps to the North Dakota Life & Health Exam
The North Dakota Life, Accident & Health producer exam is built from two distinct bodies of knowledge, and understanding the split is the fastest way to focus your study time. Roughly 75 to 80 percent of the questions cover general (national) insurance concepts that look the same in any state: how life and health policies work, how premiums are calculated, contract law, underwriting, and ethical sales practices. The remaining 20 to 25 percent covers North Dakota-specific law drawn from Title 26.1 of the North Dakota Century Code and the rules enforced by the North Dakota Insurance Department.
Most candidates fail not because the national material is hard, but because they under-study the state portion. North Dakota law governs licensing, continuing education, replacement, advertising, and the duties of the Insurance Commissioner. These topics are narrow, heavily tested, and easy to memorize once you isolate them. Treat the state chapters as a separate, high-yield study block rather than scattered footnotes inside the national content.
National vs. North Dakota: What Each Half Covers
The national half rewards conceptual understanding. You must be able to compare term versus whole life, read a benefit schedule, and apply definitions like "insurable interest" or "coordination of benefits." The North Dakota half rewards precise recall: exact CE hour requirements, license renewal cycles, free-look periods, replacement notice rules, and the Commissioner's enforcement powers. Expect direct, fact-based questions on the state side and applied scenarios on the national side.
Blueprint-to-Chapter Map
Use the table below to align each exam blueprint domain with the chapter in this guide that covers it. Percentages are approximate and reflect the current North Dakota content outline.
| Blueprint Domain | Scope | Approx. Weight | Guide Chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Insurance Basics & Contract Law | National | 10% | Ch. 1 Principles & Concepts |
| Life Insurance Policies | National | 14% | Ch. 2 Life Products |
| Life Provisions, Riders & Options | National | 12% | Ch. 3 Life Provisions |
| Annuities | National | 8% | Ch. 4 Annuities |
| Federal Tax (Life & Annuities) | National | 5% | Ch. 5 Taxation |
| Health Policy Types & Provisions | National | 14% | Ch. 6 Health Products |
| Disability & Medical Expense | National | 10% | Ch. 7 Health Coverage |
| Group, Social & Senior Health | National | 8% | Ch. 8 Group & Medicare |
| ND Licensing & Producer Duties | State | 8% | Ch. 9 ND Licensing |
| ND Marketing, Replacement & Ethics | State | 6% | Ch. 10 ND Regulation |
| ND Insurance Dept. & Enforcement | State | 5% | Ch. 11 ND Commissioner |
Recommended Study Sequence
Work the national chapters first because they build a vocabulary the state rules assume you already know. Start with Chapter 1 to lock down contract law and key terms, then move through life products, provisions, annuities, and taxation. These chapters reinforce one another: provisions make sense only after you know the product, and taxation only after you understand cash value and annuity payout phases.
Next, complete the health block (Chapters 6 through 8). Health questions test definitions and scenario application more than math, so practice categorizing policies by type and matching provisions to situations. Pay special attention to disability income elimination periods and coordination-of-benefits rules, which appear frequently.
Finish with the three North Dakota chapters (9 through 11). Schedule these last and review them again the night before your exam, because state facts fade quickly from memory. Drill the exact numbers: licensing terms, CE hours, renewal dates, free-look windows, and replacement timelines. Treat each as a flashcard.
After completing all chapters, take full-length practice tests under timed conditions. Aim for 80 percent or higher on both the national and state portions separately before scheduling. If your state-section score lags, re-read Chapters 9 through 11 rather than re-reading the entire guide.
Using This Map Day to Day
Return to this table whenever a practice question stumps you. Identify the domain, jump to the mapped chapter, and review the relevant takeaways before moving on. This keeps remediation targeted and prevents you from re-reading material you already know while neglecting your true weak spots.
Two High-Yield Numbers to Anchor Your Memory
Before you dive in, lock down the exam logistics so they never cost you a question. The North Dakota Life, Accident & Health exam is delivered by PSI, contains roughly 110 scored items plus pretest questions, allows about 150 minutes, and requires approximately 70% to pass (about 77 correct of 100 scored). North Dakota requires no pre-licensing education, but it does require fingerprinting/background check before the license is issued. These facts appear in the orientation chapter and on the state portion, so confirm them early.
How to Read Each Chapter's Aids
Every chapter pairs narrative explanation with at least one structured aid — a comparison table, a worked numeric example, or a flow diagram — followed by quiz items written in the same style as the real exam. Treat the worked examples (Human Life Value, the 7-pay MEC test, coordination of benefits, disability elimination periods, and Medigap cost-sharing) as templates: the exam reuses the same arithmetic with different numbers.
When you finish a chapter, you should be able to reproduce each worked example from a blank sheet and explain why each quiz distractor is wrong. Do not advance past a chapter until its key takeaways feel automatic, because later national chapters assume the vocabulary built earlier and the three North Dakota chapters assume the national framework is already in place.