The Nevada Life & Health license
The Nevada Life and Health producer license (exam code 05) lets you sell, solicit, and negotiate life insurance — including fixed annuities — plus accident and health products across the state. It's the combined credential that covers both lines in a single exam, which is why most new producers go this route rather than sitting Life (01) and Health (02) separately.
Nevada is a true combined-exam state: the Life and Health exam is one sitting that bundles a Life general-knowledge section, an Accident & Health general-knowledge section, and one shared Nevada-specific law section. If you only ever want one line, you can take the single-line version — but the combo is the same day, one fee, and broader authority.
Do you need a pre-licensing course?
Short answer: no. Nevada dropped its mandatory pre-licensing education requirement on January 1, 2020. You can register for the exam and sit for it without completing any approved course first.
That said, "not required" is not the same as "not a good idea." These exams are scaled (more on that below), and the state-specific portion leans on Nevada statutes you won't absorb by osmosis. A focused prep course — or a solid study package — is the difference between one attempt and three.
What's on the Life & Health exam
The combined NV Life and Health exam (code 05) has 144 scored questions plus 15 unscored pretest questions, and you get 3 hours 35 minutes. It breaks into three blocks: Life general knowledge (50 scored), Accident & Health general knowledge (50 scored), and the Nevada-specific law section shared across both lines (44 scored).
On the Life general side, expect heavy coverage of policy types (whole, universal, variable, term, annuities), riders and provisions, beneficiary designations, application/underwriting/delivery, contract law, and tax treatment including MECs. The Health general side covers disability income, medical expense plans (HMO/PPO/POS, HDHP/HSA), Medicare supplements, long-term care, mandatory and optional provisions, social insurance, and field underwriting.
The Nevada section is where the points are won or lost — it's pure state statute and regulation, and it's the part a generic national study guide won't prepare you for.
The scaled-70 trap (read this twice)
Nevada's official passing score is a scaled 70, set by Nevada Administrative Code 683A.270. Here's the catch that surprises people: a scaled 70 is NOT "70% of the questions correct." Raw scores are converted onto a 0–100 scale that corrects for how hard your particular form was, so the scaled number you see has no direct relationship to how many questions you actually answered right.
In practice, hitting a scaled 70 usually means answering meaningfully more than 70% of questions correctly — prep schools commonly tell Nevada students to aim for roughly 80% on practice tests to be safe. Treat 70% as a floor you don't want to be near, not the target.
If you fail, your report shows a numeric score (so you know how close you came) plus diagnostic feedback by topic area. If you pass, you just get "pass" — no question count, no percentage.
Booking the exam and what to expect
Schedule the NV Life and Health exam through Pearson VUE online at home.pearsonvue.com/nv/insurance or by phone at (800) 274-2609, at least 24 hours before your desired date. Walk-ins aren't allowed. The fee is $47 (combo) or $37 (single line), paid at reservation by card or voucher — nonrefundable and nontransferable.
You can test at a physical Pearson VUE center or online through OnVUE. At a center, arrive 30 minutes early with two forms of current signature ID (primary must be government-issued photo ID). For OnVUE you'll photograph your ID, your space, and yourself, and a live proctor watches via webcam — note that OnVUE won't accept military IDs and allows only two attempts before you're pushed to a test center.
It's multiple choice, split into a general-knowledge portion and a Nevada-specific portion, but you receive one combined score. There's no penalty for wrong answers, so never leave a question blank. You walk out with an official pass/fail score report in hand.
Fingerprints & background check
Nevada requires digital fingerprints and a criminal-history background report. You pick an approved fingerprinting vendor from the Division's list; the vendor transmits your prints to the Nevada Department of Public Safety. Plan on roughly $50, depending on the vendor.
You have 90 days from submitting your license application to complete fingerprinting. You'll upload your signed Fingerprint Background Waiver Form and the fingerprint receipt with the application.
Applying for the license
Within one year of passing your exam, apply online through Sircon at www.sircon.com/Nevada. The state licensing fee is $185 (plus a Sircon or NIPR transaction fee). Upload your signed Fingerprint Background Waiver Form, your fingerprint receipt, and any other documents the application requests.
Passing the exam doesn't guarantee a license — issuance depends on the Division approving all of your application materials, including the background report. You cannot sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance (or accept commission) until the license is actually issued.
Once issued, you print your own license through Sircon — free for the first 30 days, then a fee applies. The Division doesn't mail paper licenses. Nevada also requires a company appointment before you transact, so line up your carrier.
What Nevada tests that nothing else does
The 44-question Nevada section pulls from statutes common to all lines plus rules specific to life and health. Common-to-all topics: the Insurance Commissioner's powers, examinations, and hearings; core definitions (insurer, authorized vs. unauthorized, domestic/foreign/alien, certificate of authority); licensing, appointment, renewal, and termination; and the unfair-trade-practice cluster — rebating, twisting, misrepresentation, fraud, unfair discrimination, and defamation.
Life-and-health-only items worth drilling: the Nevada Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Association (NRS 686C), credit life and health (690A), group life and health (688B/689B), the 10-day free look (NRS 688A.165), replacement rules and the Buyer's Guide, fraternals (695A), viaticals (NRS 688C), and the health mandates — newborn coverage, reconstructive surgery, hospice, mental health and substance abuse, Medicare supplement regulation, and long-term care.
Don't skip the modern exchange material: the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange (695I) and the Affordable Care Act (695J) both appear in the Nevada health framework.
Keeping the license: CE & renewal
Nevada runs on a 3-year cycle — not the 2-year cycle most states use — so you'll renew less often but rack up more hours per period. You owe 30 CE hours every 3 years, including 3 hours of ethics, with at least 27 hours in your licensed line(s).
Your renewal lands on the first day of the month following your original issue date. Finish and report all CE before you submit the renewal. There's no carryover, and you can't repeat the same course within a single period.
Annuity & LTC training gates
Two product-specific training requirements sit on top of CE for life and health producers. To sell, solicit, or negotiate annuities, producers who get a life license on or after November 15, 2024 must first complete a one-time 4-hour Annuity Best Interest course — done before you transact any annuity business.
For long-term care, you must complete an approved 8-hour initial LTC course before selling LTC, then a 4-hour LTC update every 2 years thereafter. Note that LTC training runs on its own 2-year clock, not the 3-year CE cycle — a common tripwire.
Quick Reference
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