Pennsylvania Life & Health Exam Overview

Pennsylvania Life & Health Insurance Exam Overview

To sell life and health insurance in Pennsylvania you must hold a resident producer license in the Life, Accident & Health line of authority, regulated by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department (PID) under the Insurance Department Act of 1921 and Title 40 of the Pennsylvania statutes. The licensing examination is delivered by PSI Services LLC as the Series 16-03 Producer's Life, Accident & Health exam. The PID owns the content outline; PSI runs the test centers and online proctoring.

Exam structure and scoring

The combined exam blends national insurance fundamentals with a Pennsylvania state-law segment. You answer 150 scored multiple-choice questions and must achieve 70% — that is 105 correct answers — to pass. The clock allows 150 minutes (2 hours 30 minutes), exactly 1 minute per item, so pacing discipline matters and there is little buffer for flagged questions.

Scores are reported pass/fail immediately at the test center; a diagnostic report lists your percentage by content area so you know exactly where to restudy after a failure. Roughly 35–45% of the combined exam is national content (policy types, riders, underwriting, taxation) and the remainder is Pennsylvania law (PID powers, replacement, free-look, guaranty fund, unfair practices).

Worked timing example

If you spend 90 seconds on the first 50 questions you have burned 75 minutes and have only 75 minutes left for the remaining 100 — about 45 seconds each, which is too tight. The trap is over-investing early. A reliable pace is one full pass marking uncertain items at roughly 50 seconds apiece, then a review sweep. With only 150 minutes (1 minute per item) you cannot afford to let a single question exceed about 90 seconds before flagging it and moving on.

Licensing path after Act 142 of 2024

The single most-tested logistics change for 2026: Act 142 of 2024 eliminated the pre-licensing education (PLE) requirement effective April 29, 2025. Pennsylvania formerly required 24 classroom/online hours before the exam; that mandate is gone. You may register and sit for the 16-03 exam with no prior coursework, though most candidates still self-study because the exam is rigorous.

The ordered steps to licensure are:

1. Schedule the exam with PSI at psiexams.com or (800) 733-9267 — testing-center or online-proctored.
2. Pass the exam (70%) and keep the score report.
3. Apply for the license through NIPR (nipr.com) or the PID portal and pay the $55 resident producer fee.
4. Complete fingerprinting through IdentoGO (about $24) for the FBI/state-police background check.
5. License issued — valid for the biennial cycle keyed to your birthday.

Fees at a glance

Exam-day requirements

Bring one valid government-issued photo ID (driver's license, passport, or military ID) whose name matches your registration. Because PLE is abolished, you no longer need a Certificate of Completion — a common stale-fact trap on practice tests. No personal items, phones, or notes enter the testing room.

Retake policy

Retakes are unlimited, but you must wait 24 hours before rescheduling and pay the full exam fee again. There is no annual cap and no mandatory remedial course.

Nonresident applicants and reciprocity

A producer already licensed and in good standing in their home state may obtain a Pennsylvania nonresident license without examination under NAIC reciprocity, provided the home state extends the same courtesy to Pennsylvania residents. Nonresidents file through NIPR, pay the nonresident fee, and are exempt from both the (now-eliminated) PLE and the state exam.

Maintaining the license: continuing education

Once licensed you must satisfy continuing education (CE) to renew each two-year term:

Producers licensed before April 29, 2025 must satisfy the new 3-hour ethics requirement within 12 months of that date or by the end of their current license period, whichever is longer. Product-specific training stacks on top of CE: 4 hours one-time annuity best-interest training before selling annuities, and 8 hours initial plus 4 hours every 24 months for long-term care.

High-yield traps to memorize

• PLE is zero hours now — answer choices that say "24 hours of pre-licensing" are the new wrong answer; 24 hours is the CE figure, not the entry requirement.
• 70% / 150 questions / 150 minutes (2.5 hours) are the combined-exam anchors; single lines are 100 questions / 2 hours.
• $55 is the license fee, $53 the combined exam fee ($43 single-line), $24 the fingerprint fee — do not confuse them.
• Renewal is biennial on your birthday, not on a fixed calendar date.

Study sequence

Master national fundamentals (policy types, dividend options, taxation, HIPAA, ACA) first, then layer Pennsylvania-specific rules: PID examination and revocation powers, 10-day life free-look, replacement disclosure, the Pennsylvania Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association limits, and the Unfair Insurance Practices Act. Drill practice questions daily, take at least two full 150-question timed simulations, and confirm any logistics fact against insurance.pa.gov, since statutes and fees change.