- What Is A OHLH, Exactly?
- Who Regulates and Administers the Exam
- Exam Format, Fees, and Timing
- Prelicensing Education Requirements
- The 16 OHLH Exam Domains
- Background Checks and Licensing Steps
- License Renewal and Continuing Education
- Who Hires OHLH Producers
- How to Approach Domain-by-Domain Prep
- Frequently Asked Questions
- OHLH is Ohio's Life, Accident and Health Producer Combined 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.
- Insurance Regulation is the largest single domain at 10% of the exam.
- Resident candidates need 20 hours of Life prelicensing education plus 20 hours of Accident and Health, each certificate valid 180 days.
What Is A OHLH, Exactly?
A OHLH refers to the Ohio Life & Health Insurance Agent Exam - the state licensing test that anyone who wants to sell life insurance, accident insurance, or health insurance products in Ohio must pass before they can legally act as a producer. It is not a private designation or a national credentialing program; it is a regulatory exam tied directly to your ability to hold an Ohio insurance producer license in the life and health lines of authority.
Because the term "OHLH" gets used loosely, it helps to be precise here: this article, and the rest of this site, is exclusively about the Ohio exam covering life, accident, and health insurance content. If you searched for a general definition, our companion piece What Is OHLH? and the closely related OHLH Meaning page both walk through the terminology in more depth, while What Does OHLH Stand For? breaks down the acronym itself.
Who Regulates and Administers the Exam
The Ohio Department of Insurance sets the licensing requirements and content standards for the OHLH exam, but the actual test delivery is handled by PSI, a third-party testing vendor. Within PSI's system, the exam is catalogued as Series 11-35, officially titled the Life, Accident and Health Producer Combined Exam. That naming matters because it tells you exactly what's being tested: a single combined exam covering both life insurance and accident and health insurance content, rather than two separate tests.
Exam Format, Fees, and Timing
The OHLH exam is built around a straightforward, fixed structure:
- 150 scored multiple-choice questions
- 150 minutes of testing time (roughly one minute per question, which is generous if you know the material)
- 70% required to pass
- $49 exam fee, paid when you schedule with PSI
The one-minute-per-question pacing is worth internalizing early. Most candidates who struggle with time pressure aren't struggling because the clock is unreasonable - they're struggling because they haven't drilled specific domains enough to answer confidently without second-guessing. For a deeper breakdown of how the scoring works and what a "passing" result actually looks like on your score report, see OHLH Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass. For the full cost picture beyond just the $49 test fee - including prelicensing course costs and fingerprinting - check OHLH Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Key Takeaway
With 150 questions in 150 minutes, you have roughly one minute per question. Budget your study time so recall on high-weight domains like Insurance Regulation is fast and automatic, not something you have to reason through under time pressure.
Prelicensing Education Requirements
Before you can sit for the OHLH exam as a resident applicant, Ohio requires completion of approved prelicensing education:
- 20 hours of approved education for the Life line
- 20 hours of approved education for the Accident and Health line
Each completion certificate is valid for 180 days, so timing matters - if you finish your coursework and then delay scheduling your exam for too long, your certificate can expire before you test, forcing you to retake the course. This is one of the most overlooked mechanics of the licensing process, and it's covered in more detail in OHLH Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify, which walks through eligibility and prerequisite timing step by step.
The 16 OHLH Exam Domains
The OHLH content outline is organized into 16 domains spanning insurance fundamentals, life insurance, annuities, and accident and health insurance. Knowing the relative weight of each domain lets you allocate study time proportionally instead of spreading yourself thin across topics that barely appear on the test.
Domain 1: Insurance Regulation (10%)
The single largest domain on the exam. Covers Ohio-specific producer licensing rules, unfair trade practices, and the Department of Insurance's regulatory authority.
- Highest-weighted domain - prioritize this early in your study plan
Domain 2: General Insurance (5%)
Foundational insurance concepts and terminology that underpin every other domain on the exam.
Domain 3: Life Insurance Basics (8%)
Core life insurance concepts, policy types, and underwriting fundamentals.
Domain 4: Life Insurance Policies (7%)
Distinctions among term, whole, universal, and variable life products.
Domain 5: Life Insurance Policy Provisions, Options and Riders (9%)
One of the heavier domains - nonforfeiture options, settlement options, and common riders.
Domain 6: Annuities (5%)
Annuity structures, payout options, and how they differ from life insurance products.
Domain 7: Federal Tax Considerations for Life Insurance and Annuities (8%)
Tax treatment of premiums, death benefits, and annuity distributions.
Domain 8: Accident and Health Insurance Basics (8%)
Foundational accident and health concepts that carry into later domains.
Domain 9: Individual Accident and Health Insurance Policy General Provisions (5%)
Standard provisions found in individual A&H contracts.
Domain 10: Disability Income and Related Insurance (5%)
Disability income policy structures and related coverage types.
Domain 11: Medical Plans (6%)
Structures and features of common medical insurance plan types.
Domain 12: Health Insuring Corporations (HICs) (5%)
Ohio-specific HIC regulations, a topic unique to this state's exam content.
Domain 13: Group Accident and Health Insurance (5%)
Group policy mechanics as distinct from individual A&H coverage.
Domain 14: Dental Care Plans (2%)
The smallest domain on the exam - worth minimal study time relative to others.
Domain 15: Insurance for Senior Citizens and Special Needs Individuals (8%)
A heavily weighted domain covering Medicare supplement basics and protections for senior and special-needs consumers.
Domain 16: Federal Tax Considerations for Accident and Health Insurance (4%)
Tax treatment specific to A&H products, distinct from the life/annuity tax domain above.
For a section-by-section breakdown with example concepts and study strategy for each domain, see OHLH Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 16 Content Areas. If you want a condensed, one-page reference of the highest-yield facts across all 16 domains, OHLH Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts is built for exactly that.
| Domain Group | Combined Weight |
|---|---|
| Insurance Regulation + General Insurance | 15% |
| All Life Insurance domains (3, 4, 5, 7) | 32% |
| All Accident & Health domains (8-14, 16) | 39% |
| Annuities | 5% |
| Senior Citizens & Special Needs | 8% |
Background Checks and Licensing Steps
Beyond passing the exam, Ohio requires BCI and FBI fingerprint-based background checks as part of the licensing process. This step is separate from the PSI exam itself and typically involves scheduling a fingerprinting appointment through an approved vendor. Candidates sometimes assume the exam is the only hurdle, but the background check step has its own lead time and should be factored into your overall licensing timeline, not left until after you pass.
License Renewal and Continuing Education
Once licensed, Ohio producers must renew every two years. Renewal requires 24 hours of continuing education, including 3 hours specifically dedicated to ethics. This is an ongoing obligation that continues throughout your career as a producer - it's not a one-time requirement tied only to initial licensure.
Who Hires OHLH Producers
Holding an active Ohio life and health producer license opens the door to several employment paths. Independent insurance agencies, captive carrier agent networks, brokerage general agencies, and direct-to-consumer insurance sales operations all typically require this license before they'll let someone sell life, annuity, or health products in Ohio. Many roles also involve selling Medicare-related products to seniors, which ties directly back to the Insurance for Senior Citizens and Special Needs Individuals domain covered on the exam.
Because compensation in this field is often commission-driven and varies significantly by employer type, product line, and book of business, we cover realistic earning considerations separately in OHLH Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis. If you're still weighing whether pursuing this license is worth the time and cost investment, Is the OHLH Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 lays out the tradeoffs in more detail. And if you're specifically hunting for open positions, OHLH Jobs is a useful starting point.
How to Approach Domain-by-Domain Prep
Rather than studying the 16 domains in the order they're listed, it makes sense to sequence your prep by weight and by conceptual dependency. Insurance Regulation (10%) and the life insurance cluster of domains carry enough combined weight that they deserve early, repeated attention, while a domain like Dental Care Plans (2%) can be handled quickly near the end.
Regulation and Foundations
- Master Domain 1 (Insurance Regulation) since it's the single largest domain
- Cover Domain 2 (General Insurance) as foundational vocabulary
Life Insurance Cluster
- Work through Domains 3, 4, and 5 together since they build on each other
- Add Domain 7 (tax treatment) once policy types are solid
Accident and Health Cluster
- Cover Domains 8, 9, 11, and 13 as the core A&H content
- Layer in Domain 15 (Senior Citizens & Special Needs) given its 8% weight
Remaining Domains and Review
- Finish smaller domains: Annuities, Disability Income, HICs, Dental Care Plans, and both tax domains
- Run full-length practice sessions timed at 150 questions / 150 minutes
This kind of weighted sequencing beats generic spaced-repetition advice because it's anchored to the actual OHLH content outline rather than a one-size-fits-all study calendar. For a more detailed walkthrough of pacing, resource selection, and common first-attempt mistakes, see OHLH Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. If you're trying to gauge how much effort this realistically takes before you commit to a schedule, How Hard Is the OHLH Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 and OHLH Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows both address that question directly. Once you're ready to test your recall under real conditions, our practice test platform lets you simulate the 150-question format before exam day.
Key Takeaway
Sequence your study by domain weight, not alphabetical or listed order - the four life insurance domains and the Insurance Regulation domain together make up nearly half the exam's weight.
Frequently Asked Questions
On this site, OHLH refers to the Ohio Life & Health Insurance Agent Exam, formally administered by PSI as the Life, Accident and Health Producer Combined Exam (Series 11-35), under the Ohio Department of Insurance.
The exam consists of 150 scored multiple-choice questions with a 150-minute time limit, and you need a 70% score to pass.
Yes. Resident applicants need 20 hours of approved prelicensing education for Life and a separate 20 hours for Accident and Health, and each completion certificate is valid for 180 days.
Insurance Regulation is the single largest domain at 10% of the exam, making it the highest-priority individual topic, though the combined life insurance domains carry more total weight as a group.
You'll still need to complete BCI and FBI fingerprint-based background checks as part of licensing, and once licensed, you'll renew every two years with 24 continuing education hours, including 3 hours of ethics.