What This License Is
A Rhode Island Accident & Health license lets you sell health, accident, disability, and related products to people and businesses in Rhode Island. It is issued by the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation, Insurance Division.
Licensing runs through the same process as every Rhode Island producer line — the difference is the focused Accident & Health exam.
Exam Options & Format
The Accident & Health exam is Accident & Health Producer (Exam 02, Pearson VUE, two-part): 90 total (80 scored: 50 general + 30 Rhode Island; 10 pretest) questions, 2 hr (general 1:15 + state 0:45), $80 per attempt. Passing standard: 70 (scaled).
Rhode Island does not offer a combined exam for these lines — each line of authority is its own exam, so producers who want both simply take both exams.
Prelicensing: not required
Rhode Island is one of the states that does not require any prelicensing course of study for a resident producer license. You can register and test whenever you're ready.
That said, the exams test detailed product knowledge and Rhode Island statute, so a structured prep course is a sensible investment even though it isn't mandated. Optional courses typically run $150-$400 per line.
Fingerprints and BCI background check
Rhode Island requires a fingerprint-based state and national criminal background check through the RI Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI) - not through Pearson VUE.
The fee is $40 total: $5 for the state check plus $35 for the national check. You schedule the fingerprinting appointment directly with the AG's BCI.
Timing matters: the BCI report is valid for only 30 days, and you must submit it (with your NIPR transaction number) to dbr.inslic@dbr.ri.gov within that window. Don't get printed too early.
Applying for the license
Wait the required 3-5 days after passing, then apply at NIPR.com. The resident producer license is a flat $120 (it covers all major lines on your license and includes the CE tracking fee) plus NIPR's ~$5.60 transaction fee.
You must be at least 18, a Rhode Island resident (or maintain an RI office) with proof of residency. You have up to one year from passing to apply, or you'll have to retest.
Then attach your BCI background report to the application within its 30-day validity window.
Continuing education and renewal
Rhode Island producers complete 24 CE hours every two years, including at least 3 hours of ethics, and a minimum of 5 hours in each line of authority held.
Licenses renew biennially before the last day of your birth month. A course can't be repeated for credit within a single 2-year term.
There's a 30-day grace period after expiration; miss that and you must reinstate (a $50 reinstatement fee on top of the renewal, $170 total for residents).
Rhode Island-specific L&H rules worth knowing
The RI Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Association (RIGL 27-34.3) protects policyholders if a member life/health insurer fails - know its purpose and scope.
State-only life/annuity topics include replacement, life and annuity disclosure, the modified free-look period, nonforfeiture benefits, policy-loan interest, interest on death proceeds, insurable interest, annuity suitability (best interest), and AIDS/HIV testing consent.
Rhode Island has a long list of mandated health benefits - mental health and substance-abuse parity (27-38.2), infertility, mammograms and pap smears, diabetes, Lyme disease, mastectomy, newborn and adoptive children, nurse midwives, and ACA-mandated benefits all show up on the state portion.
Round it out with small-employer health rules, Medicare supplement and LTC regulation, coordination of benefits, and HMO law.
Quick Reference
Official Links
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