Pennsylvania Life & Health Exam Overview
Key Takeaways
The combined Life, Accident & Health exam (PSI Series 16-03) has 150 questions, a 170-minute (2 hours 50 minutes) limit, and a 70% passing score.
Act 142 of 2024 eliminated Pennsylvania's pre-licensing education requirement effective April 29, 2025 — you may now sit for the exam with no prior coursework.
PSI Services administers the exam; single-line exam fee is about $45, the resident producer license fee is $55, and the license renews biennially on the producer's birthday.
All first-time resident applicants must complete a fingerprint-based background check through IdentoGO before the license is issued.
Continuing education is 24 hours every two years including a mandatory 3-hour ethics course under Act 142, with up to 24 excess hours carrying forward.
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 170 minutes (2 hours 50 minutes), about 68 seconds per item, so pacing discipline matters and there is limited buffer for flagged questions.
| Exam (PSI series) | Questions | Time limit | Passing score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life, Accident & Health combined (16-03) | 150 | 2 hr 50 min | 70% (105 correct) |
| Life only | 100 | 2 hr | 70% |
| Accident & Health only | 100 | 2 hr | 70% |
Your score appears on screen at the end of the exam and a score report is emailed to you; if you fail, it includes a diagnostic report of strengths and weaknesses so you know where to restudy. The combined exam mixes national content (policy types, riders, underwriting, taxation) with Pennsylvania law (PID powers, replacement, free-look, guaranty fund, unfair practices).
Worked timing example
If you spend 90 seconds on each of the first 50 questions you have burned 75 minutes and have only 95 minutes left for the remaining 100 — about 57 seconds each, which is 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 170 minutes (about 68 seconds 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:
- Schedule the exam with PSI at psiexams.com or (800) 733-9267 — testing-center or online-proctored.
- Pass the exam (70%) and keep the score report.
- Apply for the license through NIPR (nipr.com) or the PID portal and pay the $55 resident producer fee.
- Complete fingerprinting through IdentoGO (fee paid at the enrollment center) for the FBI/state-police background check.
- License issued — valid for the biennial cycle keyed to your birthday.
Fees at a glance
| Item | Vendor | Approximate cost |
|---|---|---|
| Single-line exam (Life or Health) | PSI | $45 |
| Combined Life, Accident & Health exam | PSI | $55 per sitting |
| Resident producer license | PID via NIPR | $55 |
| Online application service fee | Sircon or NIPR | About $12.50 |
| Fingerprint background check | IdentoGO | Paid at the enrollment center |
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:
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total CE | 24 hours per biennial period |
| Ethics | 3 of the 24 hours must be ethics (Act 142, effective 4/29/2025) |
| Carryover | Up to 24 excess hours carry to the next period |
| Renewal trigger | Biennial, on the producer's birthday |
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 / 170 minutes are the combined-exam anchors; single lines are 100 questions / 2 hours.
- $55 is both the license application fee and the combined exam fee ($45 single-line); the IdentoGO fingerprint fee is paid separately — 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.
How many questions must you answer correctly to pass the Pennsylvania combined Life, Accident & Health exam (Series 16-03)?
70 of 100
90 of 100
120 of 150
105 of 150
Under Act 142 of 2024, what is Pennsylvania's pre-licensing education requirement for new producer applicants as of 2026?
24 hours of approved coursework before the exam
40 hours plus a proctored final
12 hours for life and 12 hours for health
No pre-licensing education is required
How long must a candidate wait before rescheduling the Pennsylvania insurance exam after a failed attempt?
24 hours, with the full exam fee paid again
30 days, with no additional fee
7 days, limited to three attempts per year
No waiting period and no additional fee
Which figure correctly matches its Pennsylvania licensing cost?
$55 fingerprint background check through IdentoGO
$45 resident producer license fee
$105 annuity best-interest training fee
$45 single-line exam fee through PSI
How are Pennsylvania producer continuing education and license renewal structured?
12 hours annually renewing on January 1
24 hours every year including 8 ethics hours
30 hours every three years with no ethics requirement
24 hours every two years including 3 ethics hours, renewing on the producer's birthday
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.