- What Does NY-LAH Actually Mean?
- Who Oversees the NY-LAH Exam?
- Exam Format: Series 17-55 Structure
- The 18 Domains You'll Be Tested On
- Eligibility and Prelicensing Requirements
- Fees: Exam Cost vs. License Cost
- After You Pass: License, Renewal, and CE
- Who Hires NY-LAH Licensees?
- Building a Domain-Weighted Study Plan
- Frequently Asked Questions
- NY-LAH refers to the New York Life, Accident & Health Insurance Agent/Broker Exam, regulated by NYS DFS.
- The exam (Series 17-55) has 150 questions, a 2 hour 30 minute limit, and requires 105 correct (70%) to pass.
- The exam fee is $40, and the 2025 English-language pass rate was 46.63% across 13,164 examinees.
- Candidates need 40 hours of DFS-approved prelicensing education and must be at least 18 years old.
What Does NY-LAH Actually Mean?
NY-LAH stands for the New York Life, Accident & Health Insurance Agent/Broker Exam. It's the state licensing exam that New York requires anyone who wants to sell life insurance, annuities, accident insurance, or health insurance products in New York to pass before they can legally solicit or write business. If you've seen other explanations of "NY-LAH" tied to different industries or credentialing bodies, be cautious - this article, and this site, deal exclusively with the New York State insurance licensing exam known by this acronym.
Passing NY-LAH is not itself a professional designation you frame on a wall; it's the gatekeeping exam behind a state insurance producer license. Once you pass, the result becomes part of your license application. For a broader breakdown of the terminology, see NY-LAH Meaning and What Does NY-LAH Stand For?.
Who Oversees the NY-LAH Exam?
The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) sets the licensing rules, education requirements, and content outline for NY-LAH. Actual test delivery is handled by PSI, a third-party testing vendor. DFS doesn't proctor the exam itself - it defines what has to be tested and approves the prelicensing coursework, while PSI runs the testing centers and the remote proctoring infrastructure.
This two-party structure matters for candidates because it explains why your prelicensing education provider, your exam scheduling portal, and your license application all feel like separate systems - they are. DFS approves the education. PSI delivers the test. DFS again processes the license once you've passed.
Exam Format: Series 17-55 Structure
The NY-LAH exam is officially cataloged as Series 17-55. Here's what the format looks like on test day:
- 150 multiple-choice questions, delivered electronically
- 2 hours 30 minutes allotted to complete the exam
- 105 correct answers (70%) required to pass
- Available at PSI test centers or via remote online proctoring
Because the exam is entirely multiple-choice with a fixed time budget, pacing matters. With 150 questions across 150 minutes, you have an average of one minute per question - but scenario-based items in domains like Disability Income and Related Insurance or Long-Term Care (LTC) Insurance often take longer to parse than straightforward definitional questions from General Insurance. For a full breakdown of how difficulty is distributed across the exam, see How Hard Is the NY-LAH Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.
Key Takeaway
Budget your practice time so you can answer 150 questions inside 150 minutes with time left to flag and revisit uncertain items - don't just study content, rehearse pacing.
The 18 Domains You'll Be Tested On
NY-LAH content is organized into 18 domains under the DFS-linked topic locator (currently labeled 2018-2019). Each domain carries a different weight, so not all material deserves equal study time. Below is the full breakdown:
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| 1. Insurance Regulation | 7% |
| 2. General Insurance | 4% |
| 3. Life Insurance Basics | 8% |
| 4. Life Insurance Policies | 8% |
| 5. Life Insurance Policy Provisions, Options, and Riders | 10% |
| 6. Annuities | 7% |
| 7. Federal Tax Considerations for Life Insurance and Annuities | 2% |
| 8. Qualified Plans | 2% |
| 9. Life Settlement | 3% |
| 10. Accident and Health Insurance Basics | 5% |
| 11. Individual Health Insurance Policy General Provisions | 4% |
| 12. Disability Income and Related Insurance | 6% |
| 13. Medical Plans | 6% |
| 14. Federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act | 6% |
| 15. Long-Term Care (LTC) Insurance | 6% |
| 16. Group Health and Blanket Insurance | 5% |
| 17. Government Health Insurance Plans | 5% |
| 18. Private Insurance for Senior Citizens and Special Needs Individuals | 6% |
Domain 5: Life Insurance Policy Provisions, Options, and Riders
This is the single largest domain on the exam at 10%. Expect deep questions on nonforfeiture options, settlement options, policy loans, riders (waiver of premium, accelerated death benefit, guaranteed insurability), and how these provisions interact with policy ownership and beneficiary designations.
- Know the difference between cash surrender, extended term, and reduced paid-up nonforfeiture options
- Understand common riders and what triggers each one
- Be able to distinguish policy provisions from policy exclusions
Because Life Insurance Basics, Life Insurance Policies, and Life Insurance Policy Provisions, Options, and Riders together account for 26% of the exam, life insurance mechanics deserve the largest single block of your prep time. For a domain-by-domain study breakdown with suggested emphasis, see NY-LAH Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 18 Content Areas.
Eligibility and Prelicensing Requirements
Before you can sit for NY-LAH, you need to meet a short list of requirements set by DFS:
- Be at least 18 years old
- Complete 40 hours of DFS-approved combined prelicensing education covering life, accident, and health topics
- Use your passing result within two years when submitting a license application - a stale pass doesn't carry forward indefinitely
If you plan to sell variable life insurance or variable annuities, there's an additional layer: you'll need FINRA registration and a CRD number, which is a separate track from the base NY-LAH license. Many candidates pursue NY-LAH first and add variable product authority later once they're established with a broker-dealer or insurance agency. A full rundown of who qualifies and how the timeline works is in NY-LAH Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Fees: Exam Cost vs. License Cost
NY-LAH involves two separate fees that candidates sometimes conflate:
- Exam fee: $40, paid to PSI to sit for the Series 17-55 exam
- License fee: $40 per year (or fraction of a year), paid to DFS once your license is issued; licenses can be issued for up to two years at a time
Neither fee is refundable if you fail and need to retake, so a failed attempt effectively doubles your exam cost. For the complete cost picture - including what prelicensing courses typically add on top of the state fees - see NY-LAH Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
After You Pass: License, Renewal, and CE
Passing NY-LAH is a milestone, not the finish line. Here's what happens next:
- Submit your license application within two years of your passing exam date, along with the $40 per-year license fee.
- Receive your license, which DFS may issue for up to two years depending on your application timing.
- Renew with continuing education - once a license has been in effect for more than two years, renewal requires 15 continuing-education credits.
This CE requirement is why many licensees think of NY-LAH prep as the first of several ongoing obligations, not a one-time event. If you're deciding whether the whole path - exam, license, CE cycle - is worth pursuing given your career goals, read Is the NY-LAH Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026.
Key Takeaway
Mark your two-year application deadline the day you pass - a passing score that isn't used for a license application within two years expires and can't be applied retroactively.
Who Hires NY-LAH Licensees?
A NY-LAH license is the entry credential for agents and brokers who want to sell life insurance, annuities, accident insurance, and health insurance products to New York residents. In practice, that means the license shows up as a requirement - not a preference - in job postings from:
- Insurance carriers building captive agent forces in New York
- Independent insurance agencies and brokerages placing life and health products
- Financial advisory practices that bundle insurance with investment planning (often paired with the FINRA/CRD track for variable products)
- Employee benefits brokers handling group health and voluntary benefits
Because the exam blends life insurance, annuities, health insurance, and specialized domains like Long-Term Care (LTC) Insurance and Private Insurance for Senior Citizens and Special Needs Individuals, licensees are often qualified to work across multiple product lines rather than being boxed into a single specialty. For more on where this license leads and what roles typically require it, see NY-LAH Jobs and NY-LAH Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis.
Building a Domain-Weighted Study Plan
Generic study techniques - spaced repetition, timed drills, active recall - work for NY-LAH the same way they work for any multiple-choice exam. What makes a study plan NY-LAH-specific is mapping those techniques onto the actual weight of the 18 domains instead of studying every topic equally.
Life Insurance Core
- Life Insurance Basics, Life Insurance Policies, and Life Insurance Policy Provisions, Options, and Riders - together 26% of the exam
- Drill nonforfeiture options, riders, and policy types with timed practice questions
Annuities and Regulation
- Annuities (7%) and Insurance Regulation (7%) - high weight, often underprepared
- Focus on annuity payout options and NY-specific regulatory provisions
Health and Government Programs
- Disability Income and Related Insurance, Medical Plans, Federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Long-Term Care (LTC) Insurance, Government Health Insurance Plans
- These five domains together carry significant combined weight and are frequently confused with each other
Lower-Weight Domains and Full Simulations
- Federal Tax Considerations, Qualified Plans, Life Settlement, General Insurance - lower weight but still testable
- Run full 150-question, 150-minute practice simulations to rehearse pacing
This isn't a rigid schedule for everyone - candidates who already work in health insurance may need to flip the order and start with the life insurance domains. The point is to let domain weight, not alphabetical order, drive your sequencing. For a more detailed week-by-week structure, see NY-LAH Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt, and for a compact final review, see NY-LAH Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts.
Practicing under real exam conditions - timed, multiple-choice, no notes - is one of the most reliable ways to convert content knowledge into a passing score. You can run full-length timed simulations built around the actual 18-domain weighting on our NY-LAH practice test platform, which mirrors the 150-question, 2.5-hour format so you're not surprised by pacing on test day.
Frequently Asked Questions
NY-LAH is a licensing exam, not a standalone certification. Passing it is a required step toward obtaining a New York life, accident, and health insurance producer license issued by DFS.
The Series 17-55 exam has 150 multiple-choice questions, and you're given 2 hours 30 minutes to complete it electronically at a PSI center or via remote proctoring.
You need 105 correct answers out of 150, which is 70%. For more detail on how scoring works, see NY-LAH Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
Yes. You must be at least 18 and complete 40 hours of DFS-approved combined prelicensing education covering life, accident, and health topics before sitting for the exam.
You must use your passing exam result to apply for a license within two years. If that window closes, the passing score can no longer be used for licensure.