Getting your Hawaii Accident & Health license
Hawaii's health path is straightforward: no mandatory pre-licensing course and no seat-time requirement. Be at least 18, pass the single Accident & Health (and Sickness) exam, clear a fingerprint background check, and apply through NIPR.
This is a one-exam license - just the A&H exam. (Adding life later means a second, separate Life exam, but you don't need it to be licensed for health.) The path: study -> pass the A&H exam -> get fingerprinted -> apply online through NIPR -> get licensed.
One exam, two separately scored portions
The Accident & Health exam runs 120 minutes total - 75 minutes for the General (national) portion and 45 for the Hawaii State portion - with 85 scored questions, plus unscored pretest questions you can't identify, so answer everything.
The part people underestimate: the General and State portions are scored separately, and you need 70 on each. They are not averaged. A strong national score won't offset a weak Hawaii state score, so don't coast on the state law material.
What the Accident & Health exam covers
The General portion is anchored by two big blocks: Types of Policies (disability income, AD&D, medical expense plans, HMOs/PPOs/POS, FSAs/HSAs/HRAs, Medicare supplement, individual and group LTC, plus dental, vision, cancer, critical illness, and worksite policies) and Policy Provisions, Clauses & Riders (the uniform mandatory and optional provisions, plus the cost-sharing and renewability terms). After that: social insurance (Medicare Parts A-D, Medicaid, Social Security), other concepts (coordination of benefits, taxation, managed care, workers' comp basics), and field underwriting.
The Hawaii State portion starts with the all-lines common block - the Commissioner's powers, definitions, licensing, marketing practices, and guaranty associations - then adds the health-specific Hawaii content. That's where Hawaii gets distinctive: the Prepaid Health Care Act (Hawaii's employer health coverage mandate, unique among the states), Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI), mandated benefits, cancellation rules, and the long-term care standards (basic standards, outline of coverage, suitability).
Test center vs. OnVUE, what to bring, and retakes
You can test at a Pearson VUE center (Honolulu, Hilo, Haleiwa, Kahului) or from home via OnVUE online proctoring. Reserve at least 24 hours ahead - Hawaii has no walk-in testing.
Bring two forms of current signature ID. The primary must be government-issued, photo-bearing, and signed (driver's license, passport, military ID); the secondary just needs a valid signature (a credit/debit card works). Names must match your registration exactly, and Pearson does not honor ID grace periods - expired means expired. At a test center you leave with a printed pass/fail score report.
Retakes: after a test-center attempt you can re-book in 24 hours. After an OnVUE attempt you wait two weeks for your first retake and four weeks for each subsequent one. The $75 fee applies on every attempt.
From a passing score to an actual license
Once you pass, get fingerprinted through Fieldprint Hawaii. Schedule online and enter the code HI-DCCA-INS so your results route to the Insurance Division. The fee (about $63) covers state and federal submission. If you're applying for more than one license type at once you fingerprint only once; a later, separate application means fingerprinting again.
Then apply electronically at NIPR within 60 days of your fingerprinting and pay the resident producer license fee (currently $150). Initial paper applications aren't accepted.
If you were already licensed for the accident & health line in another state, Hawaii may waive the exam: generally if you're currently licensed elsewhere for the same lines, or if you apply within 90 days of your prior license's cancellation with a good-standing certification.
Costs, continuing education, and renewal
Budget roughly $75 for the exam, about $63 for fingerprinting, and $150 for the license application - around $288 all-in, assuming a first-try pass.
Licenses renew every two years, due the last day of your birth month (even birth-months renew in even years, odd in odd years). The resident renewal fee is currently $100.
Continuing education is 24 hours per two-year term: 21 hours of Life/Accident & Health content plus 3 hours of ethics or insurance law/rules. Finish and report all CE before submitting your renewal - Hawaii doesn't allow carryover, and you can't repeat a course for credit within 24 months.
Quick Reference
Official Links
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