- IL A&H is the Illinois Accident & Health Insurance Producer Exam, administered by Pearson on behalf of the Illinois Department of Insurance.
- You must pass a separate General exam and State exam, together 89 scored questions plus 10 unscored pretest items, in 2 hours 10 minutes.
- A reported score of 70 is required on each exam, and both must be passed within a 90-day window.
- Illinois Statutes and Regulations Common to Life, Accident and Health, Property, Casualty and Personal Lines Insurance is the heaviest domain at 24.72%.
What Is the IL A&H Exam, Exactly?
The Illinois Accident & Health Insurance Producer Exam - IL A&H for short - is the state licensing exam that authorizes someone to sell, solicit, or negotiate accident and health insurance products in Illinois. It's not a voluntary professional certification you add to a resume for prestige; it's a legal requirement enforced by the Illinois Department of Insurance before anyone can act as a licensed producer in this line of authority.
If you've landed here confused about which "A&H" credential someone was talking about, this is the one tied specifically to Illinois insurance licensing, delivered through Pearson Professional Assessments. For a broader definition-focused breakdown, see What Is IL A&H? and IL A&H Meaning.
Who Runs It and How Registration Works
The Illinois Department of Insurance sets the licensing requirements, but the actual test delivery is handled by Pearson Professional Assessments. Pearson operates the testing centers, manages scheduling, and issues score reports.
On the fee side, each exam - General and State - carries an individual price of $92. Where it gets interesting is the pairing: candidates who order the matching General and State exam pair together receive a $92 discount, which brings the combined cost of both exams down to $92 total instead of $184. In practice, that means most candidates should register for the pair rather than booking each exam separately, since there's no financial upside to splitting them. For a full pricing walkthrough, including what's included and what isn't, check out IL A&H Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Before you can even schedule, you'll need to satisfy Illinois's prelicensing education requirement (covered below) and confirm your eligibility. The full checklist of prerequisites is laid out in IL A&H Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Exam Format, Timing, and Scoring
Understanding the mechanics of the test itself matters just as much as knowing the content. Here's what the actual testing session looks like:
- Scored questions: 89 total across both the General and State exams combined.
- Unscored pretest questions: 10 additional questions mixed in that don't count toward your score but are used by the state to evaluate future exam items. You won't know which ones are pretest questions, so treat every question as if it counts.
- Time allowed: 2 hours and 10 minutes total for both exams.
- Passing score: A reported score of 70 is required on each exam separately - passing the General exam does not carry over to the State exam and vice versa.
- 90-day rule: Both exams must be passed within 90 days of each other. If you pass one but let too much time lapse before passing the other, you may need to retake the one you already passed.
For the specific score mechanics and how the reported score of 70 is calculated, see IL A&H Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass. If you're trying to gauge realistically how tough this is going to be for you, How Hard Is the IL A&H Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 breaks down the difficulty factors in more depth, and IL A&H Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows covers what's publicly known about outcomes.
Key Takeaway
Because the General and State exams are scored independently at 70 each, don't assume strength in one area compensates for weakness in the other. Prepare for both as distinct hurdles inside the same 2 hour 10 minute session.
The Seven Content Domains
The IL A&H content outline - effective January 1, 2026 - organizes everything you're tested on into seven domains. Each carries a different weight, and that weighting should directly shape how much time you spend on each topic.
Domain 1: Types of Policies (17.98%)
Covers the different accident and health policy structures a producer needs to recognize and explain to clients.
- Distinguishing individual vs. group products
- Core plan structures used in the Illinois market
Domain 2: Policy Provisions, Clauses, and Riders (16.85%)
Focuses on the contract language that defines coverage - the provisions, exclusions, and optional riders that alter a base policy.
- Standard vs. optional provisions
- How riders modify coverage and cost
Domain 3: Social Insurance (6.74%)
Tests understanding of government-administered programs that intersect with private accident and health coverage.
- How social insurance programs coordinate with private policies
Domain 4: Other Insurance Concepts (5.62%)
A smaller but still scored domain covering general insurance principles that apply broadly across A&H products.
- Foundational terminology and concepts tested indirectly elsewhere too
Domain 5: Field Underwriting Procedures (8.99%)
Covers what producers are responsible for doing correctly at the point of sale and application.
- Application completion and disclosure duties
- Producer responsibilities during underwriting
Domain 6: Illinois Statutes and Regulations Common to Life, Accident and Health, Property, Casualty and Personal Lines Insurance (24.72%)
The single largest domain on the exam by a wide margin. This is general Illinois insurance law and regulation that applies across multiple lines, not just A&H.
- Producer licensing law
- General conduct, ethics, and regulatory requirements
Domain 7: Illinois Statutes and Regulations Pertinent to Accident and Health Insurance Only (19.10%)
The second-largest domain, and this is where the State exam content is concentrated - rules specific to A&H products in Illinois.
- A&H-specific statutory requirements
- State-level compliance rules unique to this line of authority
Prelicensing Education Requirements
Before scheduling with Pearson, resident applicants generally need to complete 20 hours of prelicensing education, and 7.5 of those hours must be completed in a classroom setting rather than self-study or online-only formats. This education has a shelf life: it must be used - meaning you must sit for and pass the exam - within 12 months of completing it, or you may need to redo the coursework.
This timing detail matters more than it looks. If you complete your 20 hours early and then delay scheduling your exams for personal or logistical reasons, you risk your education window expiring before you ever sit for the test. Plan your registration date before you even finish the coursework.
For the complete eligibility picture - residency considerations, documentation, and how the 12-month clock interacts with the 90-day pass window between General and State exams - see IL A&H Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Who Actually Takes the IL A&H Exam
People pursuing IL A&H licensing generally fall into a few groups:
- New insurance agents entering the field specifically to sell health, disability, dental, or supplemental accident coverage in Illinois.
- Life insurance producers adding accident and health as a second line of authority to broaden what they can sell to existing clients.
- Career changers moving into insurance sales from healthcare administration, benefits coordination, or financial services backgrounds.
- Agency and brokerage hires where the employer requires the license as a condition of employment or advancement.
Because this is a legal licensing requirement rather than an optional credential, "is it worth it" questions tend to hinge less on prestige and more on career access - you simply cannot legally sell A&H products in Illinois without it. If you're weighing the time and cost against the career payoff, Is the IL A&H Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and IL A&H Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis dig into that decision. For where the license actually gets used day to day, see IL A&H Jobs.
A Domain-Aware Way to Prepare
Generic study advice - flashcards, timed drills, spaced repetition - only helps if it's pointed at the right material. Given the weighting above, a sensible allocation of study weeks might look like this:
Illinois Statutes (Domains 6 & 7)
- Start with the two heaviest domains first, since they represent nearly half the exam
- Build a running list of statute-specific terms and requirements unique to A&H
Policy Structure (Domains 1 & 2)
- Work through policy types, then layer in provisions, clauses, and riders
- Practice distinguishing similar-sounding provisions with scenario questions
Underwriting and Supporting Concepts (Domains 3, 4, 5)
- Cover field underwriting procedures, social insurance, and other insurance concepts
- These carry lower individual weight but are easy to underprepare for and lose easy points
Full Review Under Timed Conditions
- Take full-length timed practice sessions mirroring the 2 hour 10 minute window
- Revisit weak domains identified from practice results
Run practice questions under the same time pressure you'll face on test day at our IL A&H practice test platform, and pair that with the structured plan in IL A&H Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. If you just need a fast final review before scheduling, IL A&H Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts condenses the highest-yield facts onto one page.
General Exam vs. State Exam at a Glance
| Factor | General Exam | State Exam |
|---|---|---|
| Primary content focus | Policy types, provisions, underwriting, social insurance, other concepts | Illinois statutes and regulations, including A&H-specific rules |
| Passing score | 70 (reported score) | 70 (reported score) |
| Fee if booked alone | $92 | $92 |
| Fee if booked as a pair | $92 total (combined, due to $92 pairing discount) | |
| Time limit | 2 hours 10 minutes shared across both exams | |
| Pass window | Both must be passed within 90 days of each other | |
Because pairing the two exams brings the total down to $92 instead of $184, and because they're intended to be completed within the same 90-day span anyway, most candidates schedule General and State together. Details on exam scheduling windows and how to plan around your prelicensing education deadline are covered in IL A&H Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
Frequently Asked Questions
It's the Illinois Accident & Health Insurance Producer Exam, a state licensing test administered by Pearson Professional Assessments for the Illinois Department of Insurance, required to sell accident and health insurance in Illinois.
Yes. Accident and Health licensing requires passing both a General exam and a State exam, each scored separately with a required reported score of 70, and both must be passed within 90 days of each other.
Each exam costs $92 individually. However, ordering the General and State exam pair together applies a $92 discount, bringing the combined total to $92 for both exams instead of $184.
There are 89 scored questions plus 10 unscored pretest questions, for a total of 99 questions across both exams, with 2 hours and 10 minutes allowed to complete them.
Illinois Statutes and Regulations Common to Life, Accident and Health, Property, Casualty and Personal Lines Insurance is the largest domain at 24.72%, followed by Illinois Statutes and Regulations Pertinent to Accident and Health Insurance Only at 19.10%. Together they cover nearly half the exam content.