How Many Questions Are on the California Life & Health Exam? Format, Time Limit and Passing Score (2026)

The California Life, Accident and Health or Sickness exam (called "LAH") has 150 questions and a 195-minute time limit. The CDI summary chart rounds that to three hours. The passing score is 60%, and it is a raw percentage, not a scaled score. The exam is delivered by PSI, at a test center or by remote proctoring.

One combination exam covers both license types. Under Insurance Code §1676(b), passing it qualifies you for both the Life-Only and the Accident and Health license.

Every question listed in the 150 counts. In addition, between 5 and 10 unscored "experimental" questions may be added, and you are given extra time for them. They look exactly like the scored ones, so answer every question as if it counts.

California uses 60% raw for all producer exams. On a 150-question exam, that is 90 correct answers. There is no scaling: your result depends on your total number of correct answers.

When you fail, the score report shows the number of questions you answered correctly, which tells you how far you were from the line. A pass is shown on screen and emailed to you.

If you only want one license type, CDI offers separate exams. The Life-only exam and the Accident and Health-only exam each have 75 questions and a 105-minute limit. The pass mark is the same 60%. First-time pass rates in 2025 were 63% for Life only and 76% for A&H only, against 60% for the combined exam.

Most candidates sit the combined exam, because one exam fee and one license filing fee cover both types.

There is no separate outline for the combined exam. CDI publishes License Examination Objectives for Life and for Accident and Health, effective January 1, 2026, and the combined exam covers both. On the 75-question Life exam, the objectives weight the content like this:

• General Insurance, 22 questions (30%): basic concepts 9, contract law 6, marketplace 7
• Life Insurance, 49 questions (65%): basics 8, types of policies 10, annuities 8, replacement and cancellation 4, the individual contract 10, taxation 3, group life 2, Social Security disability 1, underwriting, pricing and claims 3
• Life Policy Riders, 4 questions (5%)

On the 75-question Accident and Health exam, the weights are:

• General Insurance, 18 questions (25%): basic concepts 7, contract law 4, marketplace 7
• General Concepts of Medical and Disability Insurance, 4 questions (5%)
• Medical Expense, 45 questions (60%): individual 14, group 8, PPACA 8, senior health products 15
• Disability Income, 4 questions (5%)
• Long-Term Care, 4 questions (5%)

Ethics and Insurance Code objectives are not a section of their own. They are embedded in both documents. The combined exam covers both the Life and the Accident and Health objectives, so plan to be ready on both in full.

Two blocks dominate: life insurance products (65% of the Life objectives) and medical expense coverage (60% of the A&H objectives). Within them, senior health products (15 questions), policy types and the individual contract (10 each), annuities (8), and group and PPACA (8 each) carry the most weight.

Study to those weights, then test yourself. The practice question hub has topic sets for each major block, and our difficulty breakdown explains why the combined exam is harder than either half. To see how the course is organised, preview the first chapter.