Louisiana Life & Health Study Guide

Series 103 draws on both halves, and the Louisiana-specific questions gather in two places: what the guaranty association pays when an insurer fails, and how long a buyer has to change their mind. Louisiana departs from the national model in both — and on the guaranty side it departs twice in the same subsection, which is why this is the single most profitable block on the exam.

The guaranty association, and two numbers Louisiana moved

The Louisiana Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association (R.S. 22:2081 et seq.) is the safety net when a life or health insurer becomes insolvent. Its limits sit at R.S. 22:2083.

The life side is standard NAIC and you have probably already learned it:

$300,000 death benefit. $100,000 net cash surrender value. $250,000 present value of annuity benefits.

Now the two departures.

First: the health limit is a FLAT $500,000. Most states adopting the model run three health numbers — one for a health benefit plan, a lower one for disability income and long-term care, a lower one again for basic or other health coverage. Louisiana runs one. There is no tier to navigate; every health benefit is measured against a single half-million-dollar ceiling.

Second: the aggregate is $500,000, not $300,000. The NAIC model caps the per-individual aggregate at $300,000, matching the life death benefit, and most states follow. Louisiana matches its aggregate to its health limit instead. A candidate reasoning “the aggregate must equal the death benefit” is $200,000 wrong.

Never sell with it

R.S. 22:2098(A) prohibits using the existence of the guaranty association for a solicitation or inducement. This appears in ethics questions as often as in guaranty questions, and it is the reason those limits are absent from every carrier’s marketing material.

A scenario in which a producer reassures a hesitant buyer that “the state backs the first three hundred thousand anyway” describes a violation — and, in Louisiana, an inaccurate one as well, since the aggregate is five hundred.

The free-look ladder, and the rung that triples

Louisiana’s ordinary free look is 10 days on a new individual life policy (R.S. 22:931(A)(10)) and 10 days on an annuity (R.S. 22:951(A)(8)). Life and annuity are the same — Louisiana does not give annuities the longer window several states do.

Then the rung that carries the marks. Regulation 70 gives 30 days with an unconditional refund on a replaced life policy or annuity.

Read what triggers it: not the product, not the premium, not the buyer’s age, but the circumstances of the sale. Louisiana triples the window precisely where consumers are most exposed — where an in-force contract is being surrendered, lapsed or borrowed against to fund the new one. And note unconditional: the refund is not contingent on the insurer’s position, the reason given, or the state of the replaced policy.

Long-term care independently carries 30 days (R.S. 22:1186(F)), and Medicare supplement carries 30 days under Regulation 33.

So the shape is 10 for new life and annuity, 30 for replacement, long-term care and Medicare supplement. Exam items describe a transaction and let you decide which rung applies; read for any indication that something already in force is being displaced.

One CE point specific to holding both lines

Both lines feed one licence, and 24 hours is the total — holding Life and Accident & Health does not make it forty-eight. Neither line triggers Louisiana’s 3-hour flood component, which attaches to property, casualty and personal lines only. The Property & Casualty chapter sets out the full CE and renewal machinery.

Two training gates sit outside the 24

Holding both lines exposes you to both of Louisiana’s product-training requirements, and they behave differently.

Annuities: a one-time four-hour best-interest course under Regulation 89, effective 20 September 2024, required before selling. It is reciprocal — training completed for any other state satisfies Louisiana — and it does not count toward your 24 hours.

Long-term care: 8 hours before selling, then no less than 4 hours every renewal period (R.S. 22:1575). Unlike the annuity course, LTC courses approved for CE credit may also count toward your 24.

One is reciprocal but never counts. The other is not reciprocal but can count. That asymmetry is worth remembering when you plan a cycle.