- What Is AK-LH, Exactly?
- Who Regulates and Administers It
- What the Exam Actually Covers
- Exam Format, Timing, and Fees
- Who Takes the AK-LH Exam
- Eligibility to Sit for the Exam
- Registration and Scheduling Mechanics
- After You Pass: Licensing and Renewal
- How to Prepare Without Wasting Time
- Frequently Asked Questions
- AK-LH is the Alaska Life & Health Insurance Producer Exam, regulated by the Alaska Division of Insurance.
- The current outline covers 210 items (180 scored, 30 pretest) across 13 domains in 4 hours 30 minutes.
- A passing scaled score is 70, and results stay valid for one year after you pass.
- Alaska-specific law domains make up one-third of scored questions on the combined exam.
What Is AK-LH, Exactly?
AK-LH stands for the Alaska Life & Health Insurance Producer Exam - the state licensing exam that anyone who wants to sell life insurance, accident and health insurance, or both in Alaska must pass. It is not a designation you add after your name for marketing purposes; it's the gatekeeping test that determines whether you're legally allowed to hold yourself out as a life and health insurance producer in the state.
If you've landed here searching for a different "AK-LH," this isn't it. This article and this site cover the Alaska Life & Health Insurance Producer Exam only - its actual domains, its actual fee structure, and the actual rules that apply to Alaska applicants. Everything below comes from the official exam outline and licensing requirements for this specific credential.
Who Regulates and Administers It
The exam is regulated by the Alaska Division of Insurance, which sets the licensing requirements, and administered by Pearson VUE, the testing vendor that runs the actual exam sessions. This split matters practically: the Division of Insurance decides who is eligible to sit for the exam and what happens after you pass, while Pearson VUE controls scheduling, test-center logistics, and score delivery.
Because the Division of Insurance owns the licensing rules, any question about renewal cycles, continuing education, or fingerprinting ultimately traces back to their requirements - not Pearson VUE's testing policies. Understanding this division of labor helps when you're troubleshooting a registration issue versus a licensing question.
What the Exam Actually Covers
The AK-LH exam is really two exams bundled together: a Life exam and an Accident and Health exam. Together they span 13 domains. If you want the full breakdown of every subtopic and how much weight each domain carries, see the AK-LH Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 13 Content Areas. Here's the shape of it:
Domain 1-4: Life General Knowledge
These four domains form the backbone of the Life portion of the exam.
- Types of Policies - term, whole, universal, and variable life products
- Life Provisions, Riders, Options, and Exclusions - contract language that determines what a policy actually pays out and when
- Completing the Application, Underwriting, and Delivering the Policies - the paperwork and process side of issuing a policy
- Retirement and Other Insurance Concepts - annuities, qualified plans, and how life products intersect with retirement planning
Domain 5-6: Alaska Specific Life
These are Alaska-law domains layered on top of general life knowledge.
- Alaska Laws, Rules and Regulations Common to Life, Health, Property, Casualty and Personal Lines Insurance - the shared regulatory framework across all Alaska insurance lines
- Alaska Laws, Rules and Regulations Pertinent to Life Insurance Only - statutes specific to life products in Alaska
Domain 7-11: Accident and Health General Knowledge
These five domains cover the health insurance half of the exam.
- Types of Policies - individual, group, disability, and long-term care products
- Policy Provisions, Clauses, and Riders - the contract mechanics of health coverage
- Social Insurance - Medicare, Medicaid, and other government programs candidates must know cold
- Other Insurance Concepts - coordination of benefits, taxation, and related principles
- Field Underwriting Procedures - what a producer actually does at the point of sale
Domain 12-13: Alaska Specific Accident and Health
The health-side mirror of the Alaska law domains above.
- Alaska Laws, Rules and Regulations Common to Life, Health, Property, Casualty and Personal Lines Insurance
- Alaska Laws, Rules and Regulations Pertinent to Health (Accident and Health) Insurance Only
Key Takeaway
The two "common" Alaska law domains (5 and 12) together account for one-third of all scored questions on the combined exam - treat Alaska statute review as a top priority, not an afterthought.
One nuance worth flagging: the domain weight percentages you'll see in official materials are normalized across the full two-exam path, meaning they reflect the scored-item counts across both the Life exam and the Accident and Health exam combined, not either exam in isolation.
Exam Format, Timing, and Fees
The March 3, 2025 outlines put the combined Life and Accident and Health exams at 210 multiple-choice items total - 180 scored and 30 unscored pretest questions - with a total testing time of 4 hours 30 minutes. Pretest questions are mixed in with scored ones and you won't know which is which, so every item deserves your full attention.
Worth noting: the handbook's older examination table still lists 220 items for this same exam path. That's a legacy figure from a prior version of the outline - the current, governing count is 210. If you see the 220 number elsewhere, treat the 210-item breakdown as the current standard.
To pass, you need a scaled score of 70. For a deeper look at how scaled scoring works and what it means for your raw performance, see AK-LH Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
| Detail | Specification |
|---|---|
| Total items (current outline) | 210 (180 scored + 30 pretest) |
| Total testing time | 4 hours 30 minutes |
| Passing score | Scaled score of 70 |
| Combo fee (Life + Health, same session) | $89 at a Pearson VUE test center |
| Score validity after passing | 1 year |
On fees: a same-session Life-and-Health combination at a test center costs $89. This combination option is test-center-only - you cannot take the bundled Life-and-Health exam remotely. Individual exams (Life alone or Accident and Health alone) may be available through OnVUE, Pearson VUE's remote-proctoring option, if you prefer to split them up or need a non-test-center option. For a full cost breakdown including how the combo fee compares to taking exams separately, check AK-LH Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Who Takes the AK-LH Exam
Candidates for AK-LH are typically people entering the insurance sales profession in Alaska - new agency hires, career changers moving into financial services, or existing property and casualty producers expanding into life and health lines. Because there's no prelicensing education requirement, candidates range from people studying independently to those hired by an agency that provides internal training before the exam.
Employers hiring for these roles include life insurance carriers, health insurance agencies, independent brokerages, and financial services firms operating in Alaska that need licensed producers to legally sell life and health products. If you're evaluating whether this career path is worth pursuing, Is the AK-LH Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and AK-LH Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis dig into that question, and AK-LH Jobs looks at where licensed producers actually work.
Eligibility to Sit for the Exam
Alaska keeps eligibility relatively straightforward compared to states with mandatory classroom hours. To sit for the AK-LH exam and eventually hold the license, you must:
- Be at least 18 years old
- Reside in Alaska
- Be considered trustworthy and competent by the Division of Insurance
- Pass the required examinations
There is no prelicensing education hour requirement in Alaska - you can study on your own timeline using whatever materials work for you, rather than being forced through a set number of classroom or online course hours before you're allowed to test. Initial applicants must also submit a fingerprint card as part of the background check process. Full detail on each of these requirements, including how the background check step fits into the application timeline, is covered in AK-LH Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Registration and Scheduling Mechanics
Because Pearson VUE administers the exam, scheduling works through their standard test-center booking system for the combined Life-and-Health session. Remember the key constraint: the $89 combo pricing and combined format apply only at a physical test center. If you want the flexibility of OnVUE remote testing, you'll need to take the Life and Accident and Health exams as separate sessions rather than as a single combined appointment.
For guidance on testing windows, blackout considerations, and how far in advance to book, see AK-LH Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
After You Pass: Licensing and Renewal
Passing results are valid for one year, so you'll want to complete your license application within that window rather than letting a passing score expire unused. Once licensed, Alaska producer licenses renew on a biennial (two-year) cycle. Renewal requires 24 continuing education hours, including 3 hours of ethics, completed after a full two-year licensing period.
Key Takeaway
Don't confuse the one-year validity of your exam score with the two-year license renewal cycle - they're separate clocks that start at different points in the process.
How to Prepare Without Wasting Time
Given that one-third of scored questions sit in the two Alaska law domains, an efficient study sequence front-loads general Life and Accident and Health content, then dedicates focused, repeated review to Alaska statutes closer to your test date - since regulatory detail fades faster from memory than conceptual material like policy types or riders.
Life General Knowledge (Domains 1-4)
- Policy types, provisions, riders, underwriting, and retirement concepts
Accident and Health General Knowledge (Domains 7-11)
- Policy types, provisions, social insurance programs, and field underwriting
Alaska Law Domains (5, 6, 12, 13)
- Concentrated review of statutes shared across lines and those specific to life and health
Practicing with realistic, timed questions matters more than passive reading once you've covered the material once. Running full-length practice sessions on our AK-LH practice test platform helps you get comfortable with the 4 hour 30 minute pace and the mix of scored and pretest items before test day. For a structured week-by-week plan built specifically around these 13 domains, see the AK-LH Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt, and if you want a sense of how challenging candidates generally find each section, How Hard Is the AK-LH Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 breaks that down further.
Before your session, a condensed reference of statute numbers, key definitions, and provision names can save you review time - the AK-LH Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts is built for exactly that final-week pass. You can also run a few timed quizzes on the practice test site to check your readiness against the actual 210-item, 13-domain structure.
Frequently Asked Questions
It's structured as two exams - Life and Accident and Health - that can be taken together in one same-session combination at a test center for $89, or separately, with individual exams potentially available through OnVUE.
The current March 3, 2025 outline specifies 210 multiple-choice items total across both exams: 180 scored and 30 unscored pretest questions, completed within 4 hours 30 minutes.
No. Alaska does not require prelicensing education hours. You do need to be at least 18, reside in Alaska, be deemed trustworthy and competent, and pass the exam.
You need a scaled score of 70 to pass the AK-LH exam.
A passing score is valid for one year, during which you should complete your license application. Once licensed, renewal happens every two years and requires 24 continuing education hours, including 3 hours of ethics.