How to get your Ohio Life & Health license
Ohio runs its Life & Health producer license through the Ohio Department of Insurance (ODI), with PSI Services handling every exam. The path is the same five steps for everyone: be at least 18, finish the required pre-licensing hours, pass the PSI exam, clear a BCI & FBI background check, then file your application through NIPR.
The piece that trips people up isn't the exam — it's the paperwork choreography around it. Your pre-licensing certificate has a 180-day shelf life, you have to physically carry the original paper copy into the test center, and the name on it has to match your ID and your PSI registration character-for-character. Miss any of those and you forfeit the $49 exam fee at the door.
TESTivity recommends [Achievable](https://app.achievable.me/study/insurance-life-health/purchase#a_aid=getthelicense) to satisfy your Ohio pre-licensing requirement. Achievable is an approved provider, its insurance courses were built by the same subject-matter expert behind TESTivity, and completing the Achievable course earns you the certificate of completion Ohio requires.
One important distinction: TESTivity is not an approved pre-licensing provider in Ohio and does not issue certificates of completion. The TESTivity learning tools and study packages will absolutely help you pass the exam — but treat them as a supplement to your Achievable course, not a substitute for it.
Disclosure: TESTivity has a partnership with Achievable and may earn a commission if you enroll through links on this page.
What the PSI exam day looks like
Schedule online at the PSI Ohio portal or by phone. You can test at a PSI center (Akron, Cambridge, Cincinnati/Hamilton, Cleveland, two Columbus sites, Macedonia, Troy, plus out-of-state PSI centers) or by live remote proctor. Arrive 30 minutes early for check-in.
You get a 15-minute tutorial that doesn't eat into your exam time, plus scratch paper and a pencil at the center (remote proctored candidates get no scratch paper). The minimum passing score is 70%. Your result prints on screen and is emailed; a failing report breaks down your weak areas by topic so you know what to restudy.
Remote testers must clear the system/webcam/audio check beforehand, can't take breaks, and must email their pre-licensing certificate to ohcert@psiexams.com within 24 hours of passing.
Fingerprints & background check
ORC 3905.051 requires a BCI & FBI criminal records check via National WebCheck before ODI can issue your license. Every PSI test center is an approved WebCheck provider; fingerprinting there runs $72.25 (VISA or MasterCard). You can also book elsewhere through FastFingerprints.
WebCheck results usually post within two business days but can take 4–6 weeks. Results are valid for one year, and a single clean check can support multiple license types applied for in that window. ODI cannot finish processing your application until both the BCI and FBI reports arrive.
Filing your license application
The moment you pass, you can apply electronically at the test-center kiosk or later through ODI's site (the “Apply or Renew Agent License” button), which routes through NIPR. NIPR adds a small transaction fee on top of the state fee, payable by credit/debit card or e-check — no cash or paper checks online.
Ohio is one of the faster regulators for clean files, often issuing within days once the background check and certificate are confirmed. You'll be notified by email and can print your license from ODI's Agent Locator.
Renewal and continuing education
Resident producer licenses renew every two years by the last day of your birth month. You can file up to 90 days early through NIPR, but all CE has to be posted to your ODI record first — you can't renew with CE outstanding.
The CE bar is 24 hours per biennium including 3 ethics hours. For resident agents who carry that CE requirement, ODI waives the renewal fee itself (you still pay the NIPR transaction fee). Miss the deadline and you get a one-month active grace period with a $50 late fee; after that the license suspends, and reinstatement within a year costs an added $100.
The Ohio Life, Accident & Health exam (Series 11-35)
The combined L&H exam is Series 11-35: 150 scored questions in 2.5 hours, 70% to pass. Because it covers two lines of authority, you must complete and present TWO pre-licensing certificates on test day — 20 hours for Life and 20 hours for Accident & Health, 40 hours total.
Roughly the first 10% of the exam is Ohio insurance regulation; the rest spans life basics, life policies and provisions, annuities, federal tax treatment, accident & health basics, medical plans, disability income, senior/Medicare products, and dental. If you only want one line, Ohio offers stand-alone exams — Life (Series 11-44) and Accident & Health (Series 11-45), each 100 questions in 2 hours.
Health Insuring Corporations — Ohio's term for HMOs
Ohio is unusual in its vocabulary: what most states call an HMO, Ohio statute (Chapter 1751) calls a Health Insuring Corporation, or HIC. Expect exam questions that use “HIC” where your study habits expect “HMO.” The structure is the same — combined delivery and financing, a limited provider network, a gatekeeper/PCP model, copays, prepaid basis — but the test wants the Ohio label.
HIC content covers basic vs. supplemental vs. specialty health services under 1751.01, evidence of coverage, member rights, open enrollment, and confidentiality of medical information. Knowing the 1751 framework cold is a reliable way to pick up the Ohio-specific points other candidates miss.
Viatical settlements (Chapter 3916)
Ohio devotes real exam weight to viatical settlements under Chapter 3916 — broker authority and licensing, prohibited promotion of a purchase for the purpose of reselling, advertising rules, and the STOLI (stranger-originated life insurance) prohibition. Know the cast of characters: viator, viatical settlement broker, viatical settlement provider, and viatical settlement contract.
This is a topic where generic national study material is thin, so it's a high-yield place to focus your Ohio review.
Senior products, LTC, and annuity suitability
The exam leans hard on senior-market product rules: Medicare Parts A–D, Medicare Supplement standardization and the open-enrollment/guaranteed-issue framework (3923.33; OAC 3901-8-08), and long-term care policy standards (3901-4-01; 3923.41–.50) — inflation protection, unintentional-lapse protection, outline of coverage, and the shopper's guide.
Annuity suitability under 3901-6-13 and the replacement (3901-6-05) and illustration (3901-6-04) rules round out the agent-responsibility material. Note the separate product-training gates outside the exam: an 8-hour one-time annuity training and LTC training are required before you can sell those products.
Pre-licensing waivers by designation
Ohio waives pre-licensing for certain professional designations. For Life: a degree in insurance, CEBS, ChFC, CIC, CFP, CLU, FLMI, or LUTCF. For Accident & Health: a degree in insurance, RHU, CEBS, REBC, or HIA. You still sit the exam — the waiver removes the course requirement, not the test.
Submit the Pre-licensing Education Waiver Request with proof of designation to ODI; the approved waiver is valid 180 days and must be presented on test day, just like a course certificate.
Quick Reference
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