- INLH stands for the Indiana Life & Health Insurance Producer Exam, regulated by the Indiana Department of Insurance and delivered by Pearson VUE.
- The exam has 150 questions (135 scored, 15 unscored), a 3-hour limit, and requires a 70% score to pass.
- Candidates must complete 40 hours of approved prelicensing education before sitting for the test.
- The exam costs $69, plus a separate $40 initial license application fee.
What Is INLH?
INLH is the common shorthand for the Indiana Life & Health Insurance Producer Exam - the state licensing test that anyone who wants to sell life insurance, health insurance, annuities, or related products in Indiana must pass. It is not a private certification or a designation you add to a business card; it is a regulatory requirement administered by the Indiana Department of Insurance and delivered through Pearson VUE testing centers. Passing INLH is the gateway step between completing prelicensing coursework and actually holding an active resident producer license in the state.
If you've searched for background on this exam, you may have landed on pages using "INLH" for something else entirely. On this site, and throughout this article, INLH always refers specifically to the Indiana Life and Health Producer exam described in the Indiana candidate handbook - nothing broader, nothing borrowed from another industry's credential.
Who Administers the Exam and Why It Matters
The Indiana Department of Insurance sets the licensing rules, defines the content outline, and ultimately issues the producer license. Pearson VUE handles the logistics - scheduling, proctoring, and score reporting - at approved locations including Ivy Tech campuses and standard Pearson VUE test centers around the state. This split matters for candidates because it means the rules governing what's tested come from the state regulator, while the test-day experience (identification checks, security protocols, no personal calculators or reference materials) follows Pearson VUE's standardized procedures used across many licensing exams.
Because the Department of Insurance owns the content, the outline is periodically revised. The candidate handbook referenced for the current testing cycle uses a content outline effective November 26, 2025, so anyone studying from older materials should double-check that their prep resources reflect the current version. For a full breakdown of what changed and what stayed the same, see the INLH Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 12 Content Areas.
Exam Format, Fees, and Scoring
The INLH exam is built around a straightforward, if demanding, structure:
- 150 total multiple-choice questions - 135 are scored, and 15 are unscored pretest items you can't distinguish from the real questions.
- 3-hour time limit to complete the full exam.
- 70% required to pass, calculated only from the 135 scored questions.
- $69 exam fee, paid directly to Pearson VUE at scheduling.
- Closed-book format - no personal calculators, notes, or reference materials are permitted in the testing room.
- 48-hour retake wait if you don't pass on your first attempt.
Because scored and unscored items are mixed together randomly, there's no reliable way to identify or skip the pretest questions - every question deserves full attention. For a detailed look at how the passing threshold is calculated and what it means for your margin of error, read INLH Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass. If you're budgeting for the full path to licensure, including prep materials and application costs, the INLH Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown article breaks down every dollar involved.
Key Takeaway
Treat all 150 questions as scored since you cannot identify which 15 are pretest items - pacing and focus should be consistent from question one through question 150.
The 12 INLH Content Domains
INLH content is organized into 12 domains split across life topics, health topics, and Indiana-specific regulation. Understanding the relative weight of each domain is one of the most practical things a candidate can do before opening a textbook.
Domain 1: Life - Types of Policies
Covers term, whole, universal, and variable life products, along with the distinguishing features candidates must be able to compare on sight.
- Know the mechanics that separate permanent from term coverage
Domain 2: Life - Provisions, Options, and Exclusions
Focuses on policy riders, nonforfeiture options, settlement options, and standard exclusions found in life contracts.
- Memorize how nonforfeiture and dividend options function together
Domain 3: Life - Completing the Application, Underwriting, and Delivering the Policies
Tests the producer's role in application accuracy, underwriting classifications, and proper policy delivery procedures.
- Understand insurable interest and disclosure requirements at point of sale
Domain 4: Life - Retirement and Other Insurance Concepts
Covers annuities, retirement plans, and how life insurance concepts intersect with retirement income planning.
- Distinguish qualified from nonqualified retirement plans
Domain 5: Health - Types of Policies
Individual and group health, disability income, long-term care, and specialized health products.
- Compare group versus individual underwriting standards
Domain 6: Health - Policy Provisions, Clauses, and Riders
Standard health policy provisions, exclusions, and optional riders that modify base coverage.
- Learn mandatory versus optional policy provisions
Domain 7: Health - Social Insurance
Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security disability benefits as they interact with private health coverage.
- Know Medicare Parts A, B, C, and D distinctions
Domain 8: Health - Other Insurance Concepts
Coordination of benefits, managed care structures, and other cross-cutting health insurance concepts.
- Understand HMO, PPO, and POS plan differences
Domain 9: Health - Field Underwriting Procedures
The producer's responsibilities during application intake and initial underwriting for health products.
- Review replacement rules and required disclosures
Domain 10: Indiana Laws and Department Rules Common to All Lines of Insurance
The single largest domain on the exam at 14.8%, covering licensing rules, producer conduct, and general state regulation applicable to every line.
- Give this domain the most dedicated review time of any single topic
Domain 11: Life Regulations
Indiana-specific statutes and rules that govern life insurance contracts and producer conduct.
- Cross-reference state rules against general life concepts from Domains 1-4
Domain 12: Health Regulations
Indiana-specific statutes and rules governing health insurance contracts and producer conduct.
- Cross-reference state rules against general health concepts from Domains 5-9
Because Domain 10 alone accounts for 14.8% of the exam - more than any other single domain - it deserves early and repeated review rather than being left until the end of a study plan. For a question-by-question walkthrough of how these domains tend to appear on test day, see INLH Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 12 Content Areas.
Eligibility and Licensing Steps
Becoming licensed in Indiana involves more than just passing the exam. The full sequence looks like this:
- Be at least 18 years old.
- Complete 40 hours of Department-approved Life and Health prelicensing education.
- Schedule and pass the INLH exam at a Pearson VUE or Ivy Tech testing site.
- File the license application within the six-month validity window of your course completion certificate.
- Pay the $40 initial license application fee.
That six-month window is easy to overlook but important: if you complete your prelicensing hours and then delay scheduling the exam or filing your application, your certificate can expire before you finish the process, forcing you to repeat coursework. For the complete eligibility breakdown, including what documentation to keep on hand, see INLH Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Who Takes the INLH Exam?
Candidates sitting for INLH generally fall into a few groups: people entering the insurance industry for the first time as captive or independent agents, career-changers moving into financial services, and existing producers licensed in other states who need an Indiana resident license. Because the exam covers both life and health lines together, passing it opens the door to selling a broad range of products - term and permanent life policies, annuities, individual and group health plans, and supplemental health coverage - under one license rather than requiring separate exams for each line.
Employers that commonly seek newly licensed producers include insurance agencies, independent brokerages, banks with insurance divisions, and health insurance marketing organizations. If you're weighing whether this career path fits your goals, the INLH Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis and Is the INLH Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 articles go deeper into earning potential and long-term value, while INLH Jobs looks at the types of roles that typically require this license.
Building a Domain-Based Study Plan
Generic study advice - flashcards, spaced repetition, timed practice sets - works, but it only pays off when it's mapped to the actual weight of INLH's domains. Rather than studying life and health topics in the order they appear in a textbook, it makes more sense to prioritize based on how much of the 135 scored questions each area represents, with Domain 10 (Indiana laws and department rules, 14.8%) receiving proportionally more repetition than smaller domains.
Life Fundamentals
- Work through Domains 1-2: policy types, provisions, options, and exclusions
- Build comparison charts for term vs. permanent products
Life Application & Retirement Concepts
- Cover Domains 3-4: underwriting, policy delivery, annuities, retirement plans
- Practice application scenarios involving insurable interest
Health Fundamentals
- Cover Domains 5-7: health policy types, provisions, and social insurance (Medicare/Medicaid)
- Drill Medicare Part distinctions since these appear frequently
Health Field Work & Indiana Law
- Cover Domains 8-9: managed care concepts and field underwriting
- Begin heavy review of Domain 10 given its 14.8% weight
Regulations & Full Review
- Cover Domains 11-12: Indiana-specific life and health regulations
- Run full-length timed practice exams to build 3-hour stamina
For a more detailed walkthrough of this kind of week-by-week approach, including how to allocate review time between the two subject areas, see the INLH Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. And if you're trying to gauge realistically how challenging this exam is compared to other producer exams, How Hard Is the INLH Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 walks through the factors that affect difficulty, from the closed-book format to the volume of Indiana-specific statute questions.
| Exam Detail | Specification |
|---|---|
| Total Questions | 150 (135 scored, 15 unscored pretest) |
| Time Limit | 3 hours |
| Passing Score | 70% |
| Exam Fee | $69 |
| Retake Wait | 48 hours |
| Prelicensing Hours Required | 40 hours |
| Initial License Application Fee | $40 |
| Largest Domain | Indiana Laws & Department Rules (14.8%) |
After You Pass: License Maintenance
Passing INLH is not the finish line - it's the entry point to an active producer license that requires ongoing maintenance. Indiana producer licenses renew every two years on the last day of your birth month, and renewal requires 24 continuing education hours, including 3 hours specifically in ethics. Missing these deadlines can lapse a license, so many producers build CE tracking into their annual business routine rather than scrambling near the renewal date.
If you're still in the planning phase and want to understand exact testing windows, blackout periods, or how far in advance to schedule with Pearson VUE, the INLH Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling guide covers logistics in more depth. And for a compact reference once you're closer to test day, the INLH Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts condenses the highest-yield facts from all 12 domains onto a single page.
Whichever stage you're at - deciding whether to pursue this license, mid-way through prelicensing coursework, or in the final stretch before test day - practicing with realistic, domain-weighted questions is one of the most reliable ways to gauge readiness. You can start working through full-length practice sessions modeled on the actual INLH structure at the main practice test site, and return to the domain guides linked throughout this article as you identify weaker areas.
Frequently Asked Questions
INLH itself is the exam. Passing it is a required step toward holding an Indiana producer license, which you then maintain through ongoing continuing education and renewal rather than re-taking the exam repeatedly.
Of the 150 total multiple-choice questions, 135 are scored and count toward your result. The remaining 15 are unscored pretest questions mixed in randomly, so you should treat every question as if it counts.
You must wait 48 hours before scheduling a retake through Pearson VUE. Reviewing which domains cost you the most points before rescheduling is generally more productive than retaking immediately.
Indiana Laws and Department Rules Common to All Lines of Insurance (Domain 10) carries the largest single weight at 14.8%, making it the highest-priority domain for dedicated review time.
No. The INLH exam combines both life and health content into a single 150-question test, so passing it qualifies you to pursue a combined Life and Health producer license rather than two separate ones.