- Breaking Down the OHLH Acronym
- Who Regulates and Administers It
- What Each Letter Means for Test Day
- Exam Format, Fee, and Registration
- The 16 Domains Behind the Name
- Prelicensing Education Requirements
- Background Checks and Licensing Steps
- After You Pass: Renewal and CE
- Who Actually Uses This Credential
- Mapping Study Time to the Acronym
- Frequently Asked Questions
- OHLH stands for Ohio Life & Health Insurance Agent Exam, administered by PSI as Series 11-35.
- The exam has 150 scored questions in 150 minutes, costs $49, and requires a 70% score to pass.
- "Life & Health" covers 16 domains, with Insurance Regulation weighted heaviest at 10%.
- Resident candidates need 20 hours of prelicensing education each for Life and for Accident and Health.
Breaking Down the OHLH Acronym
OHLH stands for Ohio Life & Health Insurance Agent Exam. It is the state licensing test that anyone in Ohio must pass before selling life insurance, health insurance, annuities, or related accident products under a producer license. The name is descriptive rather than branded: "Ohio" identifies the jurisdiction, "Life" and "Health" identify the two lines of authority being tested together, and "Agent Exam" makes clear this is a producer licensing test rather than a voluntary professional certification.
Because several unrelated credentials in other industries also use the letters "OHLH," it's worth being precise: on this site, and in every article linked below, OHLH refers exclusively to the Ohio Department of Insurance's combined Life, Accident and Health Producer exam. If you've seen the acronym used elsewhere with different fees, different domain weights, or a different governing body, that is a different credential entirely. For a deeper dictionary-style explanation, see OHLH Meaning and What Is OHLH?.
Who Regulates and Administers It
The exam is regulated by the Ohio Department of Insurance and delivered by PSI under the exam code Series 11-35. This two-party structure matters for candidates: the Department of Insurance sets the licensing rules, education prerequisites, and continuing education standards, while PSI runs the actual testing centers, scheduling system, and score reporting. When you register, you're interacting with PSI's system; when you apply for your license afterward, you're interacting with the state.
This distinction also explains why the acronym persists even though the official PSI listing uses a numeric code. "OHLH" is the practical shorthand that agencies, trainers, and candidates use in conversation, while "Series 11-35" is the formal exam identifier you'll see on registration confirmations and score reports.
What Each Letter Means for Test Day
Understanding the acronym isn't just trivia - it directly predicts what shows up on the test.
- Life covers life insurance fundamentals, policy types, provisions, riders, and annuities.
- Health covers accident and health basics, disability income, medical plans, health insuring corporations, group coverage, and dental plans.
- Agent Exam signals that both lines are tested in a single combined sitting rather than as two separate exams, which is why the 150 questions are split across 16 domains instead of appearing as two independent tests.
If you want the full breakdown of how those 16 domains are weighted and sequenced, the OHLH Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 16 Content Areas walks through each one in depth.
Exam Format, Fee, and Registration
The mechanics behind the acronym are straightforward and worth memorizing before you schedule a seat:
| Detail | Specification |
|---|---|
| Exam name | Life, Accident and Health Producer Combined Exam (Series 11-35) |
| Regulator | Ohio Department of Insurance |
| Test administrator | PSI |
| Exam fee | $49 |
| Question count | 150 scored multiple-choice questions |
| Time limit | 150 minutes |
| Passing score | 70% |
Because the fee and format are fixed by the administering body, there's little variation between attempts - the main variable is your preparation. For a full pricing breakdown that accounts for education courses and fingerprinting alongside the exam fee itself, read OHLH Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown. If you want to know exactly how the 70% threshold translates into a raw score, see OHLH Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
Key Takeaway
The $49 fee and 70% passing threshold are fixed by the Ohio Department of Insurance - no version of "OHLH" prep changes these numbers, so budget and target score accordingly.
The 16 Domains Behind the Name
The "Life & Health" in the acronym expands into 16 distinct content domains. Insurance Regulation is the single largest domain at 10%, which makes sense given how heavily Ohio-specific statutes and producer conduct rules are tested throughout the exam.
Domain 1: Insurance Regulation (10%)
The largest domain by weight. Candidates must know Ohio-specific licensing rules, producer duties, and unfair trade practices.
- Highest-weighted domain - prioritize early in your study plan
Life Insurance Cluster
Life Insurance Basics (8%), Life Insurance Policies (7%), and Life Insurance Policy Provisions, Options and Riders (9%) together account for nearly a quarter of the exam.
- Combined weight makes this the largest content family on the test
Health and Senior-Focused Cluster
Accident and Health Insurance Basics (8%) and Insurance for Senior Citizens and Special Needs Individuals (8%) tie for the second-highest single-domain weight.
- Medicare-adjacent and senior product rules appear frequently here
The remaining domains - General Insurance, Annuities, Federal Tax Considerations for Life Insurance and Annuities, Individual Accident and Health Insurance Policy General Provisions, Disability Income and Related Insurance, Medical Plans, Health Insuring Corporations (HICs), Group Accident and Health Insurance, Dental Care Plans, and Federal Tax Considerations for Accident and Health Insurance - round out the remaining coverage at smaller individual weights. A candidate who only studies the acronym's surface meaning ("life and health") without mapping time to all 16 domains will be under-prepared for lower-weight but still scored topics like HICs and dental plans. The complete domain-by-domain guide at OHLH Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 16 Content Areas is the best next stop if this list is new to you.
Prelicensing Education Requirements
Before you're even eligible to sit for the exam behind the OHLH acronym, resident applicants must complete approved prelicensing education: 20 hours for Life and 20 hours for Accident and Health. Each completion certificate is valid for 180 days, so timing your course completion against your exam registration matters - wait too long and you'll need to retake the coursework.
These education hours exist because the exam assumes baseline familiarity with terminology and product structure before testing on regulation and application. If you're unsure whether you meet every prerequisite, OHLH Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify lays out the full eligibility checklist.
Background Checks and Licensing Steps
Passing the exam is not the final step toward carrying the license implied by the OHLH acronym. Ohio also requires BCI and FBI fingerprint-based background checks as part of the producer licensing application. Candidates typically schedule fingerprinting separately from the PSI exam appointment, and results feed into the state's licensing decision alongside your passing score.
In practice, this means the full path looks like: complete the 20+20 hours of prelicensing education, pass the Series 11-35 exam with a 70% or better, submit fingerprints for BCI/FBI review, and then file the license application with the Ohio Department of Insurance. Each piece has its own timeline, so candidates who want to avoid gaps between steps often plan the fingerprinting appointment around the same window as their exam date - see OHLH Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling for how to sequence this.
After You Pass: Renewal and CE
The acronym describes the exam, but the license it unlocks has an ongoing maintenance cycle. Ohio producer licenses renew every two years, and renewal requires 24 hours of continuing education, including 3 ethics hours. This is a recurring obligation, not a one-time event - agents who let CE lapse risk license suspension regardless of how well they originally scored on the combined exam.
If you're weighing whether the ongoing CE commitment and licensing steps are worth the effort relative to the career opportunity, Is the OHLH Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and OHLH Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis address that question directly.
Who Actually Uses This Credential
Once licensed, agents who passed the exam behind the OHLH acronym typically work for or with:
- Independent insurance agencies selling individual life and health policies
- Captive agents representing a single carrier's life and health product lines
- Group benefits brokers handling employer-sponsored health and disability plans
- Agencies specializing in senior market products, including Medicare-adjacent and special needs coverage
Because the license covers both life and health lines under one combined exam, agents often move fluidly between individual life sales, annuity sales, and group health work without needing a second licensing exam. For a broader look at where this license leads professionally, see OHLH Jobs.
Mapping Study Time to the Acronym
Rather than studying generically, the most efficient approach ties your calendar directly to domain weight. Insurance Regulation, the Life Insurance provisions cluster, and the senior/special needs domain deserve disproportionate attention because they carry the heaviest individual weights.
Regulation and Basics
- Insurance Regulation (10%) and General Insurance (5%)
- Life Insurance Basics (8%)
Life Products Deep Dive
- Life Insurance Policies (7%)
- Policy Provisions, Options and Riders (9%)
- Annuities (5%) and related federal tax rules (8%)
Health and Group Coverage
- Accident and Health Basics (8%)
- Individual A&H Provisions (5%), Disability Income (5%)
- Medical Plans (6%), HICs (5%), Group A&H (5%), Dental (2%)
Senior Market and Final Review
- Insurance for Senior Citizens and Special Needs Individuals (8%)
- Federal Tax Considerations for A&H (4%)
- Full-length timed practice runs
This sequencing gives regulation and life provisions the early attention their weight demands, while leaving the smaller domains - dental, HICs, group A&H - for consolidated review once the heavier material is familiar. For a structured week-by-week plan built entirely around this weighting, see OHLH Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt, and for a quick-reference summary once you're in final review mode, the OHLH Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts condenses the must-know facts onto one page. You can also run full-length practice sessions on the main practice test site to simulate the 150-question, 150-minute format before your real appointment.
Frequently Asked Questions
On this site, no - OHLH always refers to the Ohio Department of Insurance's Life, Accident and Health Producer Combined Exam, administered by PSI as Series 11-35. Other industries may use the same letters for unrelated credentials, but those have no connection to this exam's fees, domains, or rules.
It's a state licensing exam. Passing it, along with completing prelicensing education and background checks, is a prerequisite for holding a Life, Accident and Health producer license in Ohio rather than a standalone voluntary certification.
150 scored multiple-choice questions administered over 150 minutes, with a required score of 70% to pass.
Resident applicants complete 20 hours of approved prelicensing education for Life and 20 hours for Accident and Health. Each completion certificate remains valid for 180 days.
The exam itself doesn't expire, but the producer license it supports renews every two years and requires 24 hours of continuing education, including 3 ethics hours, to maintain.
For related definitional deep dives, see What Does OHLH Mean?, What Is A OHLH?, and What Is OHLH Certification?, or explore OHLH Training options and the OHLH Certification overview for next steps.