Michigan Life & Health Insurance Exam 2026

What This License Is

The combined path gives you two lines of authority in one sitting — Life at MCL 500.1206(1)(a) and Accident and health or sickness at (1)(b). Life covers life insurance and annuities; accident and health covers major medical and group health, disability income, Medicare supplement and Medicare Advantage, dental and vision, and long-term care.

The economics are unusually clean here. Exam 16-80 costs $41 — exactly what the single-line 16-65 or 16-66 costs — and Michigan's application fee is $10 plus NIPR's $5 per application, not per line. So the second line of authority costs you nothing at all in state or vendor fees. What it costs is coursework: 40 hours instead of 20.

Two structural facts about the combined exam are worth knowing before you commit. Its cut score is 75%, sitting between the Life exam's 72% and the Accident & Health exam's 76% — so on a pure pass-standard basis the combined paper is easier than the health exam alone and harder than the life exam alone. And the clock is tighter than it looks: 150 questions in 150 minutes is one minute per question, against 1.2 minutes on the 100-question papers.

Variable products are a separate line. MCL 500.1206(1)(e) calls it "Variable life and variable annuity products," and Michigan offers 16-84, Life, Variable Life and Annuities Producer — 130 questions in 2.5 hours — which picks up life and variable in a single sitting. FINRA registration is required for variable business as a matter of federal securities law, not by the Michigan insurance code.

Exam Options & Format

Life, Accident & Health Producer, exam code 16-80 — 150 scored questions in 2 hours 30 minutes through PSI, plus 1 to 10 unscored experimental items that consume your clock but not your score. The bulletin describes those items both as "one to ten" and as "approximately 10% of the number of questions," which cannot both be true of a 150-question paper — it is vendor boilerplate; plan for a handful.

The cut score is 75%, a figure specific to this examination. Michigan sets a separate standard for each of its twenty insurance exams and states each as a true percentage of scored items — no scaled scores, and no statewide 70%. DIFS warns that cut scores are subject to change, so confirm yours when you book.

In person only. DIFS discontinued remote proctored examinations effective 6/10/2025 after reviewing security risks in uncontrolled environments; the last already-scheduled remote sittings ran to 6/30/2025.

And Michigan's order of operations, which is the opposite of most states: file the NIPR application first, then complete the 40 hours, then sit the exam. The application expires 180 days after it reaches DIFS. The Life guide walks that sequence; the Personal Lines guide owns scores and retakes.

Book at test-takers.psiexams.com/midifs or on (855) 579-4639. The $41 stays valid a year from payment; extended time at time-and-a-half is $50 more and must be arranged by phone.

Most Tested Topics on the Michigan Life & Health Exam

Because this paper spans both lines, its Michigan-specific content clusters on what the two halves share: the guaranty association in MCL Chapter 77 and the continuing education regime that governs every producer licence in the state. Every row is verified against the section cited:

The guaranty rows reward precision about where each figure sits, because Michigan splits them across two subsections that do different jobs. 7704(6) sets the per-benefit caps; 7704(7) then sets aggregates that constrain them in combination. A candidate who learns only the (6) list will answer a question about someone holding a life policy and an annuity with the wrong arithmetic — the $300,000 aggregate at 7704(7)(a) reaches across them.

Two figures are worth over-learning because they are the ones summaries drop. $5,000,000 appears twice and means different things: at 7704(6)(e) it is the cap for unallocated annuities per contract owner, and at 7704(7)(c) it is an aggregate for one owner of multiple nongroup life policies, expressly "regardless of the number of policies." And Medicare Part C and Part D are excluded outright at 7704(5)(m) — a producer selling Medicare Advantage should know the association is not standing behind it.

The sales-inducement row is a trap of a different kind, because the national answer is more prohibitive than Michigan's. The NAIC model bans using the guaranty association's existence to induce a sale. Michigan's statute is narrower: MCL 500.2005(i) makes it an unfair method of competition to misrepresent the nature or extent of guaranty coverage. Chapter 77 contains no advertising ban at all, and the old MCL 500.7719 was repealed in 1990. Read the stem for whether it describes a misrepresentation or merely a mention.

Michigan's Pre-Licensing Rules — 20, 40, and the Block That Does Not Double

MCL 500.1204a(1)(b) sets the hours: 20 each for life, accident and health, property, casualty and personal lines, and 40 for a combined life-and-health or property-and-casualty program. MCL 500.1204(2) then requires the course to have been completed not more than 12 months before the application for examination is received.

The internal split is in the Administrative Code, and this is where publishers get it wrong. The statute says only that a program must include instruction in ethical practices; the numbers are in the rules:

Read the combined row again: 34 plus 6, not 28 plus 12. R 500.3(4) and R 500.4(3) are explicit that a 40-hour combined program contains thirty-four hours of principles and six hours of ethics and Michigan law. There is only ever one six-hour block, however large the program. Anyone who assumes the single-line structure doubles will overstate the ethics requirement and understate the content.

What is in the six hours differs by program, and it is not generic ethics. A life program covers Michigan insurance code Chapters 12, 20, 40, 44 and 45 plus the rules at R 500.1371 to R 500.1387. An accident and health program covers Chapters 12, 20, 34 and 45 plus R 500.651 to R 500.669 — a different list, so the two halves of a combined program are not interchangeable. A property, casualty or personal lines program covers Chapters 12, 20, 21, 31 and 45, where Chapter 31 is the no-fault act — which is why a P&C candidate's "ethics" hours are substantially a no-fault course.

Formats. R 500.5 authorises four: classroom, self-study (with instructor contact through homework and a required final exam), online (electronic interaction, final exam required), and a combination of classroom and self-study. DIFS puts it plainly: classroom or self-study, either is acceptable.

The certificate — and the Michigan surprise. It is valid 12 months from the date of completion, and if you have not passed the exam inside that window you retake the course, not merely the exam. But unlike most states, you do not bring it to the test center. DIFS: those documents "should be kept for your records. PE course completion information is sent to our office by the PE provider as an electronic file." Nothing to sign, nothing to carry, nothing to lose at the door.

Is the requirement still live? Yes, and it is worth stating affirmatively given how many states repealed theirs in 2024 and 2025: R 500.3 and R 500.4 were amended in the 2019 AACS and remain in force; MCL 500.1204 is current through 2026 legislation; and MCL 500.1204b — a genuinely repealed section, struck by 2017 PA 67 — is a different provision that is easy to confuse with it.

The designation waivers. MCL 500.1204(2)(c) names thirteen designations, and (2)(d) adds an associate's, bachelor's or master's degree with an insurance concentration. DIFS publishes them split by line:

CEBS and CIC each appear twice; nothing else crosses over, so a CPCU waives no life or health coursework. The degree route is separately quantified by DIFS at 21 term or 17 semester credits.

The procedural trap, and it is expensive. DIFS: "The candidate must submit a request in writing to our office and receive a written waiver before scheduling the exam." Book first and you have done it in the wrong order. Note also a divergence worth understanding: the statute at MCL 500.1204(2) says the commissioner may waive "the applicable examination or program of study" — but DIFS administers these as pre-licensing waivers only. The page is titled "Pre-licensing Education Exclusions & Waivers," the instrument issued is a PE waiver, and in practice a designation does not get you out of the exam.

Two other routes to no coursework. MCL 500.1204(2)(b) waives the program for someone who has been a licensed insurance producer within the preceding 12 months — which is the provision doing the work in DIFS's middle relocation tier. And several licence types require no pre-licensing at all: Limited Lines Property & Casualty, Title, Adjuster, Counselor, Surplus Lines and Limited Line Credit.

Exam Day in Michigan — Check-In, ID and the Security Rules

Arrive 30 minutes early, and understand what the deadline actually is. The bulletin asks you to arrive half an hour before your scheduled start time for sign-in and identification — and then sets the hard rule: "If you are not checked in by your scheduled start time, you will not be allowed to test, and you will forfeit your examination fee." The cutoff is the appointment time itself, not some grace period after it.

One form of ID — and register in the right name. Michigan requires one (1) valid, non-expired, signature-bearing photo identification, and the bulletin is emphatic about the name: "Candidates must register for the exam with their LEGAL first and last name as it appears on their government issued identification," and the ID must match the name you registered under.

The printed list of primary identification — choose one: a state issued driver's license; a state issued identification card; a US Government issued Passport; a US Government issued Military Identification Card; a US Government issued Alien Registration Card; or a Canadian Government issued ID.

What the list does not include is a secondary tier. Michigan asks for one primary photo ID and nothing else, so there is no "bring a second form just in case" fallback — if the one document you bring is expired, unsigned, or in a different name from your registration, you are not testing that day. Check the expiry date and the name before you travel, not at the counter.

Four published ways to forfeit the $41: failing to cancel at least 2 days before the appointment; not appearing; not being checked in by your start time; and not presenting proper identification at check-in.

Prohibited items, verbatim from the bulletin's security procedures: reference materials of any kind; electronic devices of any type, including but not limited to cellular phones, cameras, computers of any type (e.g., laptops, tablets, iPads), earbuds, electronic games, electronic watches, handheld calculators, headsets, mobile devices, music players (e.g., iPods), pagers; hats or headgear not worn for religious reasons or as religious apparel; bulky or loose clothing or coats including but not limited to open sweaters, cardigans, shawls, scarves, vests, jackets; and other personal items, including but not limited to backpacks, briefcases, chewing gum, drinks, food, good luck items, notebooks, paper or other materials on which to write, pens, pencils.

Nobody comes with you. This is PSI's own site policy rather than a DIFS rule, and it is broader than people expect: "Person(s) accompanying an examination candidate may not wait in the examination center, inside the building or on the building's property. This applies to guests of any nature, including drivers, children, friends, family, colleagues, or instructors." If someone is driving you, plan for them to wait elsewhere entirely.

What you are given. A piece of scratch paper and a pencil, both of which must be returned at check-out, and ear plugs on request. A tutorial of up to 15 minutes runs before the examination and does not count against your time.

Once you start. One question per screen, with time remaining displayed; answers may be changed while time remains. You may leave only to use the restroom, only with the proctor's permission, and you do not get extra time for it. If you want to challenge an item, the in-exam Comments link is the only mechanism — the bulletin: "This is the only examination review available to you."

The consequences of a security breach are not limited to the day. PSI "may pause or terminate an examination at any time," and failure to follow the protocol "may result in the disqualification of examination results, prohibition from taking future examinations, and may lead to legal action."

Accommodations under the ADA are available at every Michigan center but must be arranged by telephone with a PSI registrar, as must extended time at time-and-a-half for an additional $50. Neither can be booked online.

When you finish, your score appears on screen and a report is emailed to you; a failing report carries a diagnostic breakdown by content area. The Personal Lines guide owns results, retakes and the deadlines that follow.

What It Costs

$15 to apply through NIPR — $10 to the state under MCL 500.240(1)(d) plus NIPR's $5 — and $41 for the combined exam. About $56 on a first-time pass. Neither figure changes for taking two lines instead of one.

The 40 hours of pre-licensing are the substantial cost, at provider pricing, and they are the whole of the premium you pay for the combined route. A designation on DIFS's life list (CEBS, ChFC, CIC, CFP, CLU, FLMI, LUTCF) or its health list (RHU, CEBS, REBC, HIA), or an insurance-concentration degree, can remove the coursework — but remember the waiver must be granted before you schedule.

Afterwards, nothing. A Michigan resident producer licence is perpetual and carries no renewal fee; the ongoing cost of holding it is the continuing education itself, plus the long-term care training if you sell LTC.

Eligibility Requirements

MCL 500.1205(1) — five conditions, exhaustively: be at least 18; have committed no act listed in MCL 500.1239(1); complete the 40 hours of pre-licensing (or hold approved waivers); pay the fees; and pass exam 16-80. There is no fingerprint requirement and no sixth condition.

Michigan's screening is entirely disclosure-based, which raises the stakes on the application's background questions — and two of the disqualifiers are mandatory rather than discretionary. The Health guide walks them in full.

If you already hold these lines in another state, do not buy 40 hours of coursework: MCL 500.1206b waives both the pre-licensing and the examination for a producer who applies within 90 days of establishing legal residence in Michigan. The Property & Casualty guide covers it, including DIFS's three-tier practice for people who are already past the 90 days.

Keeping Your License Active

24 hours every two years including at least 3 hours of ethics (MCL 500.1204c(2)) — one requirement covering both lines, not one per line. Classroom, home study and online count equally, and instructing a course counts as well as attending it. Because a Michigan licence is perpetual, this is not a step toward a renewal: it is the thing that keeps the licence in effect.

Both halves of this licence carry product training. Annuities: a one-time 4-credit best-interest course before you solicit any annuity (MCL 500.4160(2)), with the insurer required to verify it first. Long-term care: an Accident & Health or Life licence, a one-time 8-hour course before selling, and 4 hours of ongoing training every two-year CE compliance period (MCL 500.1204f) — and that one binds non-resident producers too, which is a real exception to Michigan's otherwise complete CE reciprocity.

Carryover has two exceptions worth knowing. Up to 12 hours of surplus credit carries into the next period, but ethics hours cannot be carried and neither can duplicate completions of the same course (MCL 500.1204c(13)(a)-(c)). DIFS words it slightly differently — surplus ethics hours carry but land as general hours — and the practical result is identical either way: you cannot bank ethics credit to satisfy a future cycle's three-hour minimum.

The Property & Casualty guide owns the rest of the machinery — review dates and how they are set, the 90-day grace period, cancellation and reinstatement.

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