- The ORLH is the Oregon Life & Health Insurance Producer Exam, administered by PSI as Series 12-03.
- It has 150 scored questions in 160 minutes, and you need 70% to pass.
- Group Health Insurance is the heaviest domain at 14% of the exam.
- Resident candidates need 20 hours each of Life and Health prelicensing education before sitting for the test.
What Is a ORLH, Exactly?
If you're researching how to sell life and health insurance products in Oregon, you've probably run into the acronym "ORLH." The ORLH is the Oregon Life & Health Insurance Producer Exam - the state licensing test that qualifies you to sell life insurance, annuities, health insurance, and related products to Oregon residents. It is not a designation you display after your name like a professional credential; it's the gateway exam administered under PSI's Series 12-03, Life and Health (Includes Law), on behalf of the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation.
Put simply: pass the ORLH, meet the state's other licensing conditions, and you become an Oregon-licensed insurance producer authorized to write life and health business. Everything about the exam - its structure, its fourteen content domains, its fee, its passing threshold - is specific to Oregon's regulatory framework, which is why generic "insurance exam" advice found elsewhere often misses the mark.
Who Regulates and Administers the ORLH
The Oregon Division of Financial Regulation (DFR) sets the licensing requirements, but the actual test delivery is outsourced to PSI, a third-party testing vendor that administers the exam as Series 12-03. This two-party structure is common in insurance licensing: the state defines what you need to know and the pass standard, while PSI handles scheduling, proctoring, and score reporting.
Understanding this split matters practically. Questions about license requirements, renewal cycles, and continuing education go through DFR's rules. Questions about scheduling a test date, choosing a test center, or requesting remote proctoring go through PSI's candidate handbook. If you want a full breakdown of who qualifies and what documentation is needed before you can even register, see our detailed ORLH Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify guide.
Exam Format, Fees, and Logistics
The ORLH is a combined Life and Health exam, meaning you're tested on both lines of authority in a single sitting rather than taking two separate tests. Here's what that looks like in practice:
- Question count: 150 scored multiple-choice questions
- Time limit: 160 minutes
- Passing score: 70%
- Fee: $55 for the combined exam
- Delivery: test-center or remote-proctored, depending on candidate preference
For first-time resident applicants, fingerprinting is also part of the process - a background-check requirement separate from the exam itself but necessary before your license is issued. Because the fee structure and format are unique to this exam, don't rely on cost breakdowns from unrelated certifications; our ORLH Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown article walks through every dollar you should budget for, from prelicensing courses to the exam fee itself.
If you're wondering exactly how the 70% threshold translates into a raw number of correct answers, and how PSI scores the 150 questions, our ORLH Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass page covers the mechanics in detail.
Key Takeaway
Because the ORLH combines Life and Health into one 150-question, 160-minute exam, pacing matters - you have roughly one minute per question, so time management during practice sessions should mirror real exam conditions.
The 14 ORLH Content Domains
The ORLH isn't a vague "know insurance" test - it's built from fourteen clearly weighted content domains. Knowing the weight of each domain tells you where to invest your study hours.
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| Group Health Insurance | 14% |
| Life Insurance Policies | 13% |
| Specialized Health Insurance for Qualified Individuals | 12% |
| Annuities | 11% |
| Medical Plans | 8% |
| Life Insurance Basics | 7% |
| Life Insurance Policy Provisions, Options and Riders | 7% |
| Health Insurance Basics | 6% |
| Individual Health Insurance Policy General Provisions | 5% |
| Insurance Regulation | 4% |
| General Insurance | 4% |
| Federal Tax Considerations for Life and Health Insurance | 4% |
| Disability Income and Related Insurance | 3% |
| Federal Laws and Regulations | 2% |
Notice that Group Health Insurance alone accounts for 14% of the exam - the single largest domain - followed closely by Life Insurance Policies at 13% and Specialized Health Insurance for Qualified Individuals at 12%. Together, these three domains represent nearly 40% of your scored questions. If you only have time to deeply master a handful of topics, start there.
Domain 12: Group Health Insurance (14%)
As the heaviest-weighted domain, this covers how employer-sponsored and group health plans are structured, eligibility rules, and the provisions that distinguish group coverage from individual policies.
- Group underwriting and eligibility standards
- COBRA-type continuation concepts as they apply to Oregon producers
- Employer versus employee responsibilities in group plans
Domain 5: Life Insurance Policies (13%)
This domain tests your understanding of policy types - term, whole, universal, and variable life - along with how each is structured and marketed.
- Differences between term, whole, and universal life products
- Policy ownership, beneficiary designations, and settlement options
- Nonforfeiture values and dividend options
Domain 13: Specialized Health Insurance for Qualified Individuals (12%)
This domain covers programs and products aimed at specific populations, such as Medicare-related plans and long-term care considerations.
- Eligibility and enrollment periods for specialized plans
- Coordination between specialized coverage and other health insurance
- Consumer protections unique to qualified-individual products
For a domain-by-domain walkthrough with study strategies mapped to each content area, our companion resource, ORLH Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 14 Content Areas, goes deeper than this overview and is worth bookmarking as you build your study plan.
Prelicensing Education and Eligibility
Before you can sit for the ORLH, Oregon requires resident applicants to complete approved prelicensing education: 20 hours for Life and 20 hours for Health - 40 hours total if you're pursuing both lines, which most producers do since the exam itself is combined. The completion certificate from this coursework is only valid for one year, so timing your education and your exam date matters. Complete the coursework too early and you may need to redo it before you actually sit for the test.
There's one notable shortcut: CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter) holders may qualify for an education waiver, bypassing the prelicensing hour requirement. If you already hold that designation, confirm your eligibility for the waiver with DFR before enrolling in a prelicensing course you may not need.
For the complete list of who's eligible, what documents you'll need, and how fingerprinting fits into the timeline, see ORLH Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Why the ORLH Matters for Your Career
Passing the ORLH is the legal precondition for selling life insurance, annuities, and health insurance products as a licensed producer in Oregon. Insurance agencies, independent brokerages, and carriers hiring Oregon-based producers will ask for proof of this license before letting you write business or receive commission appointments. It's not optional paperwork - it's the credential that makes you employable in this specific line of work within the state.
Because the exam blends life and health content, passing it opens doors to a broad range of roles: individual life insurance sales, annuity sales, group health benefits consulting, Medicare-related product sales, and more. If you're evaluating whether pursuing this license is worth the time and cost relative to the opportunities it unlocks, our Is the ORLH Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 article breaks down that decision in more depth, and ORLH Jobs surveys the kinds of roles that require or prefer this license.
For a realistic sense of what compensation looks like once you're licensed and working in the field, our ORLH Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis covers this without relying on inflated or borrowed figures from unrelated industries.
How to Prepare Without Wasting Time
Generic study advice - flashcards, timed drills, spaced repetition - only helps if it's applied to the right material in the right order. Given the domain weights above, a reasonable approach is to front-load your study time on Group Health Insurance, Life Insurance Policies, and Specialized Health Insurance for Qualified Individuals before moving to lighter domains like Federal Laws and Regulations or Disability Income and Related Insurance.
Heavy Domains First
- Group Health Insurance (14%)
- Life Insurance Policies (13%)
Second-Tier Weight
- Specialized Health Insurance for Qualified Individuals (12%)
- Annuities (11%)
Mid-Weight Domains
- Medical Plans (8%)
- Life Insurance Basics (7%)
- Policy Provisions, Options and Riders (7%)
Remaining Domains and Full Reviews
- Health Insurance Basics, Individual Health Policy Provisions
- Insurance Regulation, General Insurance, Federal Tax Considerations
- Disability Income, Federal Laws and Regulations
Practicing under realistic time pressure matters here since the exam gives you roughly one minute per question across 150 items. Timed practice questions modeled on the real domain weights - not generic insurance trivia - will do more for your score than passive re-reading. Our ORLH Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt lays out a full study sequence, and you can start running realistic practice sessions right now on our ORLH practice test platform.
If you're unsure how difficult the exam actually feels once you're sitting in front of it, How Hard Is the ORLH Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 addresses that honestly, and ORLH Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows looks at what's publicly known about outcomes.
Key Takeaway
Allocate roughly proportional study time to domain weight - spending equal time on a 2% domain and a 14% domain is a common, avoidable mistake.
Keeping Your License Active After Passing
Passing the ORLH gets you licensed, but Oregon producer licenses aren't permanent without upkeep. Renewal happens every two years, and it requires 24 hours of continuing education - including 3 hours specifically on ethics and 3 hours on Oregon law. Missing these hours or the renewal deadline can lapse your license, which means you'd lose your ability to write new business until it's reinstated.
Mark your renewal date as soon as you're licensed, and spread your continuing education hours across the two-year cycle rather than scrambling at the deadline. For quick-reference material you can revisit periodically - whether you're studying for the initial exam or refreshing before renewal season - the ORLH Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts is designed exactly for that kind of fast review.
Frequently Asked Questions
The ORLH itself is a one-time exam, but the producer license it grants access to must be renewed every two years with 24 hours of continuing education, including 3 ethics hours and 3 Oregon law hours.
The ORLH is a combined exam covering both Life and Health content in a single 150-question, 160-minute session administered by PSI as Series 12-03.
The combined exam fee is $55. This doesn't include prelicensing course costs, which vary by provider - see our cost breakdown for full budgeting details.
Since the completion certificate is valid for only one year, an expired certificate typically means retaking the prelicensing coursework before you can register for the exam again.
Most resident applicants must complete 20 hours each of Life and Health education, but CLU holders may qualify for an education waiver - confirm eligibility with the Division of Financial Regulation before assuming you're exempt.