The Maine Accident and Health Producer License
Maine calls the line Accident and health or sickness in the statute - 24-A M.R.S. §1420-F(1)(B), "insurance coverage for sickness, bodily injury or accidental death" - while the Bureau's own licence list calls it simply Health and Pearson VUE calls the examination Accident & Health. Three names, one authority. If you are searching a form or a fee schedule and cannot find the line you are looking for, that is usually why.
The authority reaches further than most candidates expect. Major medical, short-term disability, long-term disability, dental, vision, Medicare supplement, long-term care and the whole of the small-group market all sit under it. Two of those carry their own training gates on top of the licence - long-term care and, on the life side, annuities - and this guide's continuing-education section sets out both.
Maine requires no pre-licensing coursework and does not fingerprint producer applicants, so there is nothing to complete before you book. What Maine does instead is ask you a set of background questions on the application and review what you say. This guide owns the background-questions walkthrough for Maine, including the federal consent process that can stop an application before the Bureau even looks at it.
Accident and Health Alone, or Combined With Life
The standalone Accident and Health paper carries 88 scored questions: a 50-item General Knowledge part and a 38-item Maine Laws and Rules part, with 5 pretest items on the general part. That 38 is the number to notice. It is the joint-largest state-law section on a Maine single-line producer paper, tied with Casualty's 38 and set against 25 on Life and 25 on Personal Lines - and it is larger than the 36-item state section on the combined Life, Accident and Health paper that covers two subjects at once.
The Maine section splits, by the content outline's own counts, into 18 items common to life and health, 14 pertinent to accident and health only, and 4 pertinent to life only. Sit the standalone A&H paper and you get the full 38-item health-weighted state section; sit the combined paper and you get 36 items shared across both subjects.
Both papers are two-part examinations, and the parts stand or fall separately. That is a real advantage on the health side, where the Maine section is the heavy half: a candidate who knows accident and health cold but has never read Title 24-A can bank the general part and come back for the state law. 24-A M.R.S. §1410(6) allows exactly that, at the price of the full examination fee for the resit.
Passing is a scaled 70. Do not convert that into 62 of the 88 scored items, because the scale is not a percentage - Maine reports a score that is "neither the number of questions you answered correctly nor the percentage of questions you answered correctly," produced by equating across the multiple versions of each paper.
Where these numbers come from matters, because two Pearson VUE documents carry different things. The handbook (#122000) carries the rules; the content outlines (#122006, revised 2 February 2026) carry the question counts. Neither carries a time limit in its body - the handbook points to its own back cover for that, and the back cover is not extractable from the published PDF. Confirm the time allowance at reservation.
Most Tested Topics on the Maine Accident and Health Exam
Three of Maine's health rules are written differently from the familiar version, and two more describe a market Maine rebuilt inside the last four years. From the TESTivity Maine regulations curriculum, statute-verified:
| Concept | The Maine rule |
|---|---|
| Grace period, tiered by premium mode | Not one number but three. The required uniform provision at 24-A M.R.S. §2707 instructs the drafter to "insert a number not less than '7' for weekly premium policies, '10' for monthly premium policies and '31' for all other policies" |
| Time limit on certain defenses, health | 3 years, not 2. After three years "no misstatements, except fraudulent misstatements, made by the applicant ... shall be used to void the policy or to deny a claim," and a claim for a loss commencing after three years may not be denied on the ground of a pre-existing condition not excluded by name or specific description (§2706) |
| Free look, individual health | 10 days from delivery, and the statute opens with its own carve-outs in its own words: "Except as to nonrenewable accident policies and individual credit health insurance policies, every individual health insurance policy shall contain" the right to return (§2717) |
| Pre-existing condition exclusions | Not limited. Prohibited. "An individual, group or blanket contract issued by an insurer may not impose a preexisting condition exclusion" (§2850). There is no 12-month or 18-month look-back to memorise, because there is no look-back |
| Reinstatement, individual health | Automatic on the 45th day after a conditional receipt unless the insurer has already disapproved; the reinstated policy covers accidental injury from the date of reinstatement but sickness only if it begins more than 10 days after it; premium may be applied to a period not more than 60 days before reinstatement (§2708) |
| Pooled individual and small group market | Maine merged them. "All individual and small group health plans offered in this State with effective dates of coverage on or after January 1, 2023 must be offered through a pooled market" (§2792), and plans must conform to one of the Clear Choice designs the Superintendent develops for each metal tier, effective 1 January 2022 for individual plans (§2793) |
| Small group rating, tobacco | Maine removed the tobacco factor. From 1 January 2024 a small group carrier "may not vary the premium rate due to tobacco use" - a divergence from the federal rating rules - alongside a geographic ratio capped at 1.25 and an age ratio of 3 to 1 for individuals 21 and older (§2808-B) |
| External review, request window | 12 months from the final adverse determination, considerably longer than the federal default. The IRO decides within 30 days, or no more than 72 hours on an expedited review, and the decision "is binding on the carrier." Group plans must exhaust all internal grievance levels first; individual plans, only one (§4312) |
| Long-term care incontestability | Three tiers, not one. Under 6 months: rescission on a misrepresentation "material to the acceptance for coverage." 6 months to under 2 years: material and pertaining to the condition claimed. 2 years and beyond: not contestable on misrepresentation alone, only on a showing the insured "knowingly and intentionally misrepresented" relevant health facts (§5076) |
| Long-term care producer training | A one-time 8-hour course plus 4 hours every 24 months thereafter, on top of a life or health licence, before you may sell, solicit or negotiate LTC in Maine (§5081(1)) |
| Continuation of group coverage | Maine's is trigger-based, not size-based on its face: it runs from temporary layoff, a qualifying permanent layoff, or job loss from a work-related injury or disease, after 6 months of coverage - then continues "until one year from the last day of work," with 31 days to elect and pay, at no more than 102% of the group rate (§2809-A(11)) |
| Medicare supplement free look | 30 days, not the 10 that applies to individual health, and any refund "must be paid directly to the applicant by the issuer" (§5007) |
The grace period is the highest-yield item on this table and the easiest to get wrong, because the familiar answer is a single number. Maine's §2707 is a required uniform provision whose text is a fill-in-the-blank with three floors in it, keyed to how often the premium is paid: 7 / 10 / 31. Weekly, monthly, everything else. Compare it with the life side, where §2505 gives a flat 30 days regardless of mode, and you have the contrast an exam writer reaches for on a combined paper.
Then the two numbers that are simply different from the answer you have memorised. Health contestability in Maine is three years, not two - and the fraud carve-out never expires, so a fraudulent misstatement remains available to the insurer indefinitely. And pre-existing condition exclusions are banned outright by §2850, whose heading still reads "Limitations on exclusion and waiting periods" from an earlier era. Read the heading and you expect a look-back period; read the text and there is none. Note that §2706's three-year language still operates as a uniform policy provision on individual A&H forms - the two rules work at different layers and both are live.
Finally, the market itself. Maine is one of a very small number of states running a pooled individual and small-group market with standardised plan designs, and both are recent - Clear Choice designs from 1 January 2022, the pooled market from 1 January 2023. A carrier may offer up to three alternative designs alongside the standard ones, but only with an actuarial certification of significant consumer benefit and no adverse selection. Layer the Maine Guaranteed Access Reinsurance Association on top - a mandatory-membership reinsurance entity under ch. 54-A that reinsures high-cost individual lives so guaranteed-issue premiums stay affordable - and you have a structure worth learning as a whole rather than as four separate facts. MGARA is not a guaranty association and it does not issue policies; confusing it with either is a classic exam trap.
The Background Questions, and the Federal Consent That Comes First
Maine screens producer applicants on what they disclose, not on what a fingerprint returns. There is no LiveScan appointment, no vendor, no service code and no separate background-check fee - the Bureau's fee schedule has no such line. What there is instead is a set of background questions on the NAIC uniform application, a Bureau review of the answers, and a right to a hearing if the answer goes against you.
The Bureau's own framing is the most useful thing published on it. Asked "I have a criminal conviction. Will this stop me from obtaining a license?" the answer is: "Not necessarily. There are certain convictions that can be considered for denial of a license however every scenario is reviewed independently and every applicant has a right to a hearing. Please contact the Licensing Division with specific questions." Individual review, not a bright line.
What the Bureau can act on is set out at 24-A M.R.S. §1420-K(1), paragraphs A through N. The list is broader than criminal history and worth reading before you answer anything: providing incorrect, misleading, incomplete or materially untrue information in the license application (A); violating any insurance law, rule, subpoena or order (B); obtaining a licence by misrepresentation or fraud (C); improperly withholding, misappropriating or converting money in the insurance business (D); intentionally misrepresenting contract terms (E); criminal conviction (F); unfair trade practices or fraud (G); fraudulent, coercive or dishonest practices, incompetence or untrustworthiness (H); a licence denied, suspended or revoked elsewhere (I); forging a name on an application (J); improperly using reference materials during a licence examination (K); accepting business from unlicensed individuals (L); failing to comply with a child support order (M); and failing to pay state income tax (N). Note (A) and (K): lying on the form and cheating on the exam are independent grounds, and either survives the licence being issued.
The gate that sits before everything else is federal. 18 U.S.C. §§1033-1034 bar anyone with a felony conviction involving dishonesty or breach of trust from engaging in the business of insurance without the written consent of an insurance regulatory official - the "1033 waiver." Maine's sequencing is explicit: such applicants "are required to obtain written consent from the Maine Bureau of Insurance before any license application shall be considered. If the license application is submitted with or before the 1033 application, the Bureau will not make a determination on the license application until the 1033 consent has been granted."
Four things about Maine's 1033 practice that catch people out. It reaches beyond producers: the definition of the business of insurance covers officers, directors, agents and employees, so someone who merely schedules appointments for producers needs consent if they carry a qualifying felony. Current licensees are not grandfathered: "Even if you are a current licensee, you must obtain written consent." Employers carry a duty: it is the employer's responsibility to ensure that any prohibited person employed or being considered has received consent. And consent is position-specific: "an applicant who is granted consent to work for one employer may not change employers without reapplying."
How long it takes. If the Superintendent's designee decides no hearing is needed, "the decision may take up to 7-10 business days." If a hearing is needed it "usually takes 14 days or more to schedule," hearings are public with notice posted on the Bureau's website, the applicant carries the burden of establishing full rehabilitation, and a decision issues within 30 days of the hearing closing. There is no fee to request one. Maine publishes its 1033 orders online.
Disclosure does not end at licensure. 24-A M.R.S. §1419 makes 30 days the universal reporting clock, and the list is longer than most licensees realise: any change of address, telephone number, e-mail address, name "or other material change in the conditions or qualifications set forth in the original application"; any criminal conviction other than a traffic violation; any disciplinary action by another jurisdiction's insurance regulator; and any administrative action by another jurisdiction or state agency, within 30 days of final disposition. Separately, a pending prosecution must be reported "within 30 days of the initial pretrial hearing date" with the complaint and relevant documents attached - that clock starts long before any conviction.
File changes through NIPR, through Maine's own ALMS Online portal using your Maine licence number and access code, or on paper to the Bureau at 34 State House Station, Augusta ME 04333-0034. Supporting documents go through NIPR's Attachment Warehouse or to insurance.pfr@maine.gov. Keep the email address current in particular - the Bureau moved its CE reminder notices to email, and your licence itself is delivered that way.
What the Maine Accident and Health License Costs
$25 to the Bureau, split as a $15 application fee and a $10 licence fee, plus the Pearson VUE examination fee. Nothing else is required.
There is no fingerprint fee because Maine does not fingerprint producer applicants, and no pre-licensing course fee because the statutory requirement was repealed in 2007. The examination fee is the one number Maine does not publish anywhere - not in handbook #122000, which contains no dollar amount at all, and not on any Bureau page. Pearson VUE quotes it when you reserve, on (800) 274-4959.
Budget for the training gate if you plan to sell long-term care. The 8-hour initial LTC course under 24-A M.R.S. §5081 is a course you buy, and so is the 4-hour refresher every 24 months. The hours may be approved as continuing education under chapter 16 subchapter 7, so in practice they can do double duty against your 24 - but the course itself is not free.
Nothing recurring goes to the Bureau. An individual resident producer pays no renewal fee in Maine - the renewal schedule prints "None" against the PRR and PLR prefixes - and does not need a carrier appointment to keep the licence. Appointments cost $30 per insurer every two years and the insurer pays them.
Eligibility Requirements
The bar is set by 24-A M.R.S. §1420-E and it is short: 18 or older, no conduct that is a ground for action under §1420-K, fees paid, and the examinations passed for the lines applied for. Maine asks for no sponsor, no experience and no continuing-education hours in advance - the education obligation begins after licensure, not before it.
A distinction worth drawing on the health side, because the products look similar and the licences are not. Limited Lines Credit is its own authority under §1420-F(1)(G) and requires its own examination for residents; it is not a subset of Accident and Health. Maine hints at treating the two regimes separately elsewhere too - individual credit health policies are one of only two products carved out of the §2717 free look, the other being nonrenewable accident-only policies.
No pre-licensing course is required. Maine repealed the statutory requirement in 2007, and the Bureau's published path for a resident applicant runs exam, then application, with no education step in between. One caveat worth knowing about rather than acting on: the Bureau's CE rule still carries a stale 16-credit-hour alternative that the repeal left behind. The Life guide sets out that conflict in full.
You do not need a carrier appointment to be licensed. The Bureau puts it flatly: "No you do not need an active affiliation or appointment in order to remain actively licensed." An appointment under §1420-M is what authorises you to act as a particular insurer's agent - the insurer files it within 15 days of the agency contract being executed or the first application being submitted, and the insurer pays the $30 biennial fee. Producers who are not acting as an insurer's agent are exempt from the appointment requirement entirely.
What Maine does instead of fingerprinting is ask, and then keep asking. The disclosure questions on the application are only the start; §1419 imposes a rolling 30-day duty to report convictions, administrative actions and material changes for as long as you hold the licence. The Background Questions section below sets out the whole regime, including the federal 1033 consent that can stop an application before the Bureau opens it.
Keeping the Maine Accident and Health License
Important CE details: 24 hours per biennium including 3 ethics, keyed to birth month and birth-year parity. Home study is limited to 16 of the 24 unless the course closes with a proctored closed-book examination, which lifts it to all 24. Classroom sessions earn one credit per 50 minutes of instruction, and fractional credits round down.
24 credit hours every two years including 3 ethics hours, due the last day of your birth month in the odd or even year matching your birth year. That is the whole requirement, and holding more lines does not increase it.
Long-term care carries Maine's heaviest training gate, and it sits on this licence. 24-A M.R.S. §5081(1) bars anyone from selling, soliciting or negotiating long-term care insurance unless they are licensed as a life or health producer, have completed "a one-time training course that is no less than 8 hours in length," and complete "ongoing training of no less than 4 hours every 24 months thereafter." The statute lets those hours be approved as CE under chapter 16 subchapter 7, so they can count toward the 24 - but the insurer must verify your training before you may solicit, and the four-hour refresher recurs for as long as you sell the product.
Where your credits come from matters as much as how many. Maine approves courses individually. §1483 requires each application for approval to be submitted with a fee and approved or disapproved by the Superintendent "subject to prior review and nonbinding recommendations of the Continuing Education Advisory Committee" - a body created by §1481 and made up of "6 members appointed by the superintendent for terms of 3 years each," every one of whom must be "an active, full-time insurance producer or consultant." Practitioners vet the courses; the Superintendent decides.
The provider side carries its own fees and its own filing route: $100 to register as a new provider, $100 to continue biennially on 1 October of even years, and $20 per new course. Providers may file on the Bureau's own state-specific form or on the NAIC Uniform CE Reciprocity Course Filing Form, and the Superintendent may enter reciprocity agreements with other jurisdictions on course approval.
And four subject areas earn nothing. Rule ch. 542 §5 excludes "technical office skills, such as typing, speed reading, and the operation of office machines and equipment"; "motivation, psychology, sales promotion, time or stress management, or communications"; "office management, customer service, or the operation of the student's business, if the course is general in focus and is not specifically directed towards the business of insurance"; and "courses which primarily instruct the student in the promotion or sales of the products of a specific company." A carrier product-training session is the classic example of the last - useful, and not continuing education.
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