Texas Life and Health Exam Overview: Format, Path, and Next Steps

The Texas Life and Health exam is the Pearson VUE sitting most people mean when they want Life plus Accident and Health authority with the Texas Department of Insurance. Officially it is General Lines Life, Accident and Health. People also call it L and H.

This hub is the map. It covers what the exam is, who needs it, format numbers from Pearson VUE and TDI, how Life only differs, how to prep, what happens on exam day, what to do after a fail, and the fingerprint plus TDI steps after you pass. Deep dives live on the spoke articles linked below. Recheck Pearson and TDI before you book or pay, because fees and outlines can update.

What this hub covers

1. What the exam is and what license it supports.

2. Who should sit Life and Health versus Life only.

3. Questions, time, fees, and the scaled passing score.

4. A clean prep path before you spend the Pearson fee.

5. Exam day logistics with Pearson VUE.

6. Retake steps if you already failed once.

7. Fingerprints, IdentoGO, and the TDI application after you pass.

8. Soft pointers to costs, career path, and GetLicensedTX practice tools.

What the Texas Life and Health exam is

Texas licenses insurance producers by line of authority. For life plus accident and health work, the common path is the General Lines Life, Accident, Health and HMO agent license. To get that license you pass the matching Pearson VUE exam, finish fingerprints when required, then apply with TDI within one year of passing.

The exam is computer based and multiple choice. It has a general knowledge section and a Texas specific section. Pearson scores the exam as a whole, not as two separate pass fail parts. TDI sets the passing score. Pearson reports a scaled score from 0 to 100. Passing is 70 on that scale.

Texas does not require a prelicensing course for these agent exams. You can sit when you are ready. That is why a focused practice plan often beats buying a long course you will not finish.

Official scheduling and handbook downloads live on Pearson VUE’s Texas insurance page. Apply pages for the Life Agent and General Lines Life, Accident, Health and HMO paths live on TDI’s agent site.

Who needs this exam

You need the Life and Health path when the work you want requires life plus accident and health authority under a Texas license and carrier appointments.

Common reasons people sit L and H:

You plan to talk life and health products in the same book, including disability income, major medical themes, Medicare supplement conversations where your appointments allow it, or related accident and health lines.

Your agency or IMO expects the broader General Lines Life, Accident and Health license from day one.

You want one exam that covers the combined outline instead of stacking separate paths later.

You may only need Life Agent if your first year is life products only and your appointing agency agrees. Do not pick L and H because a practice bank felt harder. Pick from the job. Tradeoffs in plain English: getlicensedtx.com/articles/life-vs-life-and-health-texas.

If your longer goal is an independent book after the license, the full path from exam to appointments lives at getlicensedtx.com/articles/how-to-become-independent-insurance-agent-texas. Mid career and testing a switch? An optional start page is getlicensedtx.com/lp/career-change.

Exam format: questions, time, and passing score

Numbers below match the Pearson VUE content outlines and Candidate Handbook used across GetLicensedTX articles. Confirm the live outline PDF before you lock a study calendar.

Life Agent (InsTX-Life01 English / InsTX-Life21 Spanish): 90 questions on screen. Of those, 80 are scored and 10 are unscored pretest items mixed in with no labels. Time is 120 minutes. Exam fee is $39.

General Lines Life, Accident and Health (InsTX-LAH05 English / InsTX-LAH25 Spanish): 145 questions on screen. Of those, 130 are scored and 15 are unscored pretest items. That split is 100 scored plus 10 pretest on general life and health knowledge, and 30 scored plus 5 pretest on Texas specific content. Time is 150 minutes (2 hours 30 minutes). Exam fee is $49.

Passing is a scaled score of 70. Pretest items do not count. The scaled score is not a raw percent of every item you saw.

People confuse 145 questions with 150 minutes. One hundred fifty is the clock for L and H. One hundred forty five is the item count. Full pacing detail: getlicensedtx.com/articles/how-many-questions-texas-life-health-exam.

Spanish versions of these majors exist with the same time limits. Confirm the exact exam code when you schedule.

Life only vs Life and Health

Life Agent focuses on life insurance concepts: policy types, riders, underwriting, beneficiaries, tax themes that show up on life exams, and Texas law for life producers.

Life and Health adds accident and health topics on top of life material: disability income themes, major medical ideas, related provisions, and the same serious Texas law block.

The ten dollar fee gap ($39 vs $49) is not the real decision. Authority is. If you need accident and health authority for the work you want, the combined exam is usually cleaner. If you only need life products for now, Life Agent keeps the first stack slightly lower.

Read the comparison before you buy weeks of the wrong outline: getlicensedtx.com/articles/life-vs-life-and-health-texas.

How to prep

Treat prep as a practice loop, not a bookshelf.

1. Confirm the exact exam title on Pearson VUE and the license type on TDI.

2. Take a free timed baseline at getlicensedtx.com/diagnostic so you feel the clock and see weak areas on paper.

3. Rank misses. Put Texas law near the top for Texas candidates. Add health blocks if you sit L and H. Drill short sets, read explanations, then retest the same slice.

4. Protect timed practice. Untimed study builds clarity. Timed study builds the score.

5. Book Pearson when the date is real and your legal name matches the ID you will bring.

Weak area habits in more detail: getlicensedtx.com/articles/practice-weak-areas-texas-life.

GetLicensedTX is built for the Texas Life and Life and Health exams: timed practice, weak area drills, modules, and the AI Study Tutor. Monthly is $12.99. Lifetime is $69. Plans sit at getlicensedtx.com/pricing. That sits on top of Pearson, IdentoGO, and TDI fees, not instead of them.

Schedule and exam day with Pearson VUE

Create your Pearson VUE account with your legal name exactly as it appears on your government issued ID. Pay the exam fee when you reserve. Pearson does not take the fee at the test center. Fees are non refundable and non transferable except under the Change or Cancel rules in the Candidate Handbook.

Appointments may be made up to one calendar day before you wish to test, subject to availability. Change or cancel at least 48 hours ahead by calling Pearson VUE at 888-754-7667 if you need to move the seat under handbook policy.

Exam day is logistics as much as content. Matching IDs, arrival windows, and what you can bring protect the fee you already paid. Walk through getlicensedtx.com/articles/pearson-vue-texas-insurance-exam-day-rules before you book a morning slot you cannot reach on time. Calm pacing habits: getlicensedtx.com/articles/texas-life-exam-day-tips.

Do not stack IdentoGO against your Pearson arrival window on the same morning. One delay should not burn an exam fee.

If you fail: retake path

Failing once is common. Failing the same way twice is optional.

Write what felt hardest while it is fresh. Check Pearson VUE for retake rules and fees. There is no attempt limit that saves you money. Each new reservation needs a new exam fee at the current rate.

Then take a fresh timed baseline and rebuild from weak areas, not from page one of a manual. Hub: getlicensedtx.com/articles/texas-life-health-exam-retake-guide. First 48 hours checklist: getlicensedtx.com/articles/failed-texas-life-exam-what-to-do-next. Retake landing page: getlicensedtx.com/lp/retake.

After you pass: fingerprints and TDI apply

Passing the exam is not the license. You still need fingerprints when required and a completed TDI application.

Most resident applicants need an IdentoGO fingerprint background check. Order matters. Begin on TDI’s online initial application and fingerprint portal first. After TDI registers you, they email a service code. Use that code to schedule IdentoGO. Do not book prints before you have the code. Keep the appointment receipt. Full walkthrough: getlicensedtx.com/articles/texas-insurance-fingerprinting-identogo.

Apply online through Sircon or the National Insurance Producer Registry. TDI lists the resident agent application fee at $50 per license type. Application fees are non refundable. Apply within one year of passing. Miss that window and you retake the exam before you can apply again. If you apply before you pass, TDI expects a new application and another fee after you pass.

Official apply pages: Life agent at tdi.texas.gov/agent/life-agent-apply.html and General Lines Life, Accident, Health and HMO at tdi.texas.gov/agent/general-life-apply.html.

After TDI issues the license, you still need carrier appointments before you sell. That sequence is license first, then appointment. Details for an independent path: getlicensedtx.com/articles/how-to-become-independent-insurance-agent-texas.

What it costs

Required fees for one license type if you pass first try usually land around $130 to $140: Pearson exam ($39 Life Agent or $49 Life and Health), IdentoGO fingerprints (often about $41, confirm at booking), and the $50 TDI application.

Prep is optional. Retakes and bad logistics are where the bill grows. Full fee stack: getlicensedtx.com/articles/texas-life-health-license-cost.

A simple order that works

1. Pick Life only or Life and Health at getlicensedtx.com/articles/life-vs-life-and-health-texas.

2. Practice timed sets until the clock feels normal. Start free at getlicensedtx.com/diagnostic.

3. Book Pearson when the date is real and your IDs match the name you will use everywhere. Review exam day rules at getlicensedtx.com/articles/pearson-vue-texas-insurance-exam-day-rules.

4. Pass, then finish fingerprints with your TDI service code. Keep the IdentoGO receipt.

5. Apply through Sircon or NIPR and pay the $50 fee within one year.

6. Handle appointments after the license is issued.

That order protects non refundable dollars. Study quality protects retake dollars.

Practice and next steps

Use getlicensedtx.com/diagnostic for a free timed baseline before you spend the Pearson fee. If you already failed once, getlicensedtx.com/lp/retake keeps the rebuild path in one place. Ask the AI Study Tutor at getlicensedtx.com/tutor when a topic stays fuzzy between timed sets.

Plans are at getlicensedtx.com/pricing. Monthly is $12.99. Lifetime is $69. Soft nudge, not a gate: the Pearson fee does not care how you studied, only whether you are ready when the clock starts.

Always recheck the Pearson VUE Candidate Handbook, content outlines, and TDI apply pages before you book or pay.