Study Guide: Life and Health Insurance

The Life and Health Insurance Study Guide will assist the life and health insurance prelicense student with important and much needed information that will be useful in helping you successfully pass your state licensing examination. The Guide specifically concentrates on the content listed in your state’s Candidate Information Bulletin and provides a comprehensive and in-depth break-down of the important concepts, characteristics, and definitions seen in the test content outline for insurance examinations in all states, and will provide the student with a line-by-line breakdown of the main content found in the Content Outline in the Candidate Licensing Bulletin. The Study Guide is a supplement to your prelicense studies and will add significantly to your knowledge base.

Included in the Study Guide is detailed information on the content sections found in the Candidate Licensing Bulletin that is published by all states. In this Guide, you will find detailed information and bullet points of knowledge on these important topics:

• General Insurance, including risk and how it is handled, elements of an insurable risk, insurer classifications, the authority and powers of producers, contract elements, legal interpretations affecting insurance, and more.
• Federal Laws and Regulations: this section details important federal laws and rules, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act, United States Code 1033 and 1034, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley privacy act and rules, the Affordable Care Act relating to life insurance, and the CAN-SPAM Act.
• Life Insurance Basics: this section provides an in-depth discussion of the basics of life insurance, and will explore insurable interest, the personal and business uses of coverage, determining the amount of insurance, premium factors, types of life insurance contracts basics, company and field underwriting, policy delivery, sources of information, risk classifications, peril definitions, and much more.
• Types of Life Insurance Policies: this section takes a deep dive into the various life insurance policies in today’s marketplace and will emphasize specific policies. Included in the discussion are term insurance policies, whole life insurance and its variations, indexed and standard universal life insurance, variable life contracts, and specialized policies, such as joint life, group life, coverage on children, and associated material.
• Life Insurance Policy Provisions, options and riders are thoroughly discussed, including standard and optional riders and provisions, beneficiaries, settlement options, nonforfeiture allowances, loans and withdrawals, dividends, numerous riders that may be added to the contract, life insurance replacements and life settlement providers, disclosure obligations, annuities, and prohibited actions.
• Federal Taxation of Life Insurance will provide a complete look at how life insurance and annuities are taxed. In this portion of the course, information on dividends, life insurance settlement taxation, values included in the insured’s estate, “LIFO” and “FIFO” distributions, surrenders and withdrawal taxation, imputed income, and modified endowment contracts.
• Accident and Health insurance basics, including limited versus comprehensive policies, Tricare, Life and Health Guaranty Associations, errors and omissions common situations, delivery and disclosure requirements, individual underwriting, grandfathered medical plans, and federal rules on “creditable coverage” application.
• Individual Accident and Health Policy Provisions: This section of the Guide explores both uniform required and optional health insurance provisions and will provide a deep look at content such as incontestability, grace periods, free-looks, reinstatement, claim forms, proof of loss requirements, claims payment timeframes, legal actions, cancellation and nonrenewal, coinsurance and copayments, deductibles and elimination periods, and much, much more.
• Disability Income coverage is wholly explored, and provides a discussion of disability benefit determination, qualifications for coverage, individual and group policies, unique aspects of disability underwriting, coordination of benefits with other coverage, riders, business disability insurance, and Social Security Disability Income.
• Medical Plans are considered, with content including medical plan concepts, provisions and clauses, types of medical plans including major medical, HMOs and PPOs, point-of-service plans, managed and preventive care, outpatient benefits, utilization and case management, limited health insurance policies, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
• Group Health insurance is heavily discussed, and includes material on the group contract, rates, eligibility for group coverage, certificates of insurance and master policies, contributory and noncontributory, conversion, COBRA allowances and notification requirements, open/closed enrollment, and senior medical plans.
• Specialized Health Insurance for Qualified Individuals and Senior Citizens: this important section of the course discusses topics such as Medicare, Medicare Supplements and Medicare Advantage plans, required provisions and disclosure requirements, compensation allowances, Medicare Select, marketing and advertising, Medicaid, and Long-Term Care.
• Federal Health Insurance Taxation: this portion of the Guide looks at federal health insurance tax concerns, including premiums and benefits, accidental death, group coverage tax concerns, partnerships and sole proprietors, business disability insurance, consumer-driven health plans and concepts, such as Health Savings and Health Reimbursement Accounts (HSAs and HRAs), and flexible spending accounts.