What's on the New York life, accident and health insurance exam
What is on the New York life, accident and health insurance exam (17-55): every section with its share of the exam, and the lessons that cover it.
About the exam
The New York exam for the Life, Accident and Health Agent or Broker license is the New York Life, Accident, and Health Insurance Agent/Broker (Series 17-55), given by PSI. It has 150 scored, plus 5 to 10 unscored experimental questions. You have 2.5 hours.1,2
PSI publishes each section's weight as a percentage, not a number of questions. On a 150-question exam, a 10% section is 15 questions. Some sections, such as 7%, come out at a fraction of a question, and PSI doesn't say how it rounds them, so we show the percentages only.2
Exam sections and their weights
Every section, with the lessons that cover it
Study the heaviest sections first: Life insurance policy provisions, options, and riders (10%), Life insurance policies (8%), Life insurance basics (8%).
Insurance regulation
- New York producer licensing: process, definitions, and license types (Ins. Law 2101-2109, 2136) Free · practice set
- New York license maintenance, continuing education, and disciplinary actions (Ins. Law 2103, 2110, 2127, 2132, 2134)
- New York Superintendent's powers and insurer regulation: certificate of authority, solvency, claim practices, and agent appointments
- New York unfair and prohibited practices: misrepresentation, false advertising, defamation, unfair discrimination, and rebating
- New York licensee regulation: controlled business, commissions, fiduciary duty, records, and compensation transparency (Reg 194)
- New York Insurance Frauds Prevention Act and aiding unauthorized insurers (Ins. Law 401-405, 2117)
- New York consumer privacy (Reg 169) and DFS cybersecurity requirements (23 NYCRR 500)
- Fair Credit Reporting Act and federal insurance fraud crimes, including the 18 U.S.C. 1033 consent
General insurance
- Risk, exposure, hazard, peril, and loss, and the methods of handling risk Free · practice set
- Elements of insurable risk, adverse selection, the law of large numbers, and reinsurance
- Insurer types, admitted and domicile status, financial ratings, and distribution systems
- The law of agency: the insurer as principal and express, implied, and apparent authority
- Insurance contract law and its unique characteristics
- Contract legal concepts: indemnity, utmost good faith, representations, warranties, concealment, fraud, waiver, and estoppel
Life insurance basics
- Underwriting: insurable interest, medical information, and risk classification Free · practice set
- Life insurance needs analysis for individuals and businesses
- Life policy classifications: group versus individual, permanent versus term, participating versus nonparticipating
- Fixed versus variable life, and SEC, FINRA, and New York regulation of variable products (Ins. Law 4240, Regs 47 and 77)
- Life insurance premium factors: mortality, investment return, expense, and premium mode
- New York life insurance advertising, policy summary, buyer's guide, and illustrations (Ins. Law 2122, 3209; Reg 74)
- Life Insurance Company Guaranty Corporation of New York (Ins. Law art. 77)
- New York best interest standard for life and annuity sales (Reg 187) and senior-specific designations (Reg 199)
- New York life insurance and annuity replacement (Ins. Law 2123; Reg 60)
- Sources of insurability and HIPAA privacy disclosures
- Application mechanics: signatures, changes, and incomplete applications
- New York policy backdating limits and HIV testing consent rules (Ins. Law 3208, 2611)
- Collecting the initial premium and issuing the receipt
- Policy delivery and explaining the contract to the client
Life insurance policies
- Term life insurance types Free · practice set
- Term life renewability and convertibility features
- Traditional whole life products
- Interest- and market-sensitive life products
- Combination and survivorship life plans
- New York limits on life insurance on minors (Ins. Law 3207)
- Group life insurance conversion and contribution
- Credit life insurance: individual versus group
Life insurance policy provisions, options, and riders
- Core contract provisions: entire contract, insuring clause, free look, consideration, owner's rights Free · practice set
- Premium payment modes and grace period
- Reinstatement, policy loans, and nonforfeiture options
- Dividends, incontestability, assignment, suicide, and accelerated death benefits
- Policy exclusions: war, aviation, and dangerous occupation
- New York required life policy provisions: misstatement of age, statements of the applicant, and proof of death (Ins. Law 3203-3204)
- Beneficiary designation rules
- Life policy settlement options
- Waiver, guaranteed-insurability, payor, and accidental-death riders
- Return-of-premium, disability, and cost-of-living riders
- Term, other-insured, and long-term-care riders
Annuities
- The annuity principle Free · practice set
- New York required annuity contract provisions (Ins. Law 3219, 4220, 4223)
- Annuity premium and timing structures
- Deferred annuity surrender and withdrawal charges, nonforfeiture, and death benefits
- Annuity classification and payout options
- Personal uses of annuities: tax deferral, retirement income, education funds, and guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefits
Federal tax considerations for life insurance and annuities
Qualified plans
Life settlements
- Life settlements Free · practice set
- New York life settlement brokers: licensing, advertising, privacy, and prohibited practices (Ins. Law 2137, art. 78)
- New York prohibition of stranger-originated life insurance (Ins. Law 7815)
Accident and health insurance basics
- Accident and health basics: perils, types of losses and benefits, classes of coverage, and common exclusions Free · practice set
- Worksite, hospital indemnity, short-term medical, and accident policies
- Dental, vision, and specified-disease policies
- New York accident and health marketing: advertising (Reg 34), outline of coverage, limited-benefit notices, and errors and omissions
- Completing the health insurance application
- Policy delivery and explaining the contract
- Replacement of health insurance
- New York community rating and the definition of small group (Ins. Law 4317; Reg 145)
Individual health insurance policy general provisions
- Mandatory provisions I: entire contract, incontestability, grace period, reinstatement Free · practice set
- Other health policy provisions: other benefits, unpaid premium, cancellation, conformity, illegal occupation, intoxicants, and relation of earnings
- Other provisions I: insuring clause, free look, consideration, probationary and elimination periods
- Rights of renewability
Disability income and related insurance
- Disability classifications: total, partial, recurrent, and residual Free · practice set
- Mandatory provisions II: claim notice, forms, proof of loss, and payment of claims
- Disability income and accidental death and dismemberment policies
- Health policy riders
- Occupational versus non-occupational classification
- Group disability income: short-term and long-term disability compared with individual plans
- Business uses of health insurance: key person, overhead expense, and disability buy-out
Medical plans
- Basic and major medical expense insurance Free · practice set
- Other provisions II: waiver of premium, exclusions, preexisting conditions, coinsurance, deductibles
- Managed care structures: HMO, PPO, and POS plans
- Managed care concepts
- New York mandated health benefits and offers: dependent age limits, disabled and newborn children, and HMO preventive care
- HIPAA: eligibility, guaranteed issue, renewability, and privacy protections
Federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
- ACA market reforms: preexisting conditions, annual and lifetime limits, essential health benefits, and medical loss ratio Free · practice set
- ACA exchanges: eligibility, premium tax credits, cost-sharing reductions, metal levels, actuarial value, and enrollment periods
- ACA individual mandate and employer shared responsibility
Long-term care insurance
- Individual and group long-term care insurance Free · practice set
- Long-term care optional benefits (inflation protection, nonforfeiture, shared care) and hybrid plans
- New York long-term care regulation: exclusions, suitability, renewability, disclosure, prohibited practices, and replacement (Reg 62)
- New York State Partnership for Long-Term Care, Medicaid estate recovery, and the New York LTC tax credit (Reg 144)
Group health and blanket insurance
- Group health insurance and COBRA Free · practice set
- New York eligible groups, blanket insurance, and group marketing jurisdiction (Ins. Law 4235)
- ERISA, FMLA, nondiscrimination rules, and group plan funding: fully insured, self-insured, stop-loss, and ASO
- Nonduplication and coordination of benefits
- New York group health continuation, extension of benefits, conversion, and small employer coverage (Ins. Law 3221; Reg 145)
Government insurance plans
- Workers' compensation Free · practice set
- Social Security benefits (disability and retirement)
- New York State Disability Benefits Law
- Medicaid
- Child Health Plus and Healthy New York (Ins. Law 4326)
- Medicare Parts A, B, C, and D
- Consumer-directed health accounts: FSA, HDHP/HSA, and HRA
Private insurance for senior citizens and special needs individuals
Official sources
- New York State Department of Financial Services: Life, Accident and Health Agent and Broker Licensing - Individual and TBA
- PSI Services LLC: New York Department of Financial Services Insurance Candidate Information Bulletin (updated 4/28/2023)
Checked against these sources as of .