- You need 60% correct across 150 questions to pass the combined CA-LAHS exam.
- Life and Accident/Health each contribute 75 questions, weighted equally in the final score.
- The January-June 2026 first-attempt pass rate was 59%; repeat attempts dropped to 41%.
- Each attempt costs $98 ($55 state fee plus PSI's $43 convenience fee), win or lose.
The Passing Score, In Plain Numbers
The California Department of Insurance sets a single, unambiguous bar for the California Life, Accident & Health or Sickness Insurance Exam (CA-LAHS): you must answer 60% of the questions correctly to pass. The exam is delivered through PSI, runs for 150 multiple-choice questions, and gives you 3 hours to finish - whether you sit at a physical test center or take the remote online-proctored version.
Sixty percent of 150 questions works out to 90 correct answers. There's no essay component, no simulation, and no partial credit for "close" answers. It's a straightforward count: get to 90 correct and you pass, land at 89 and you don't. If you want a full breakdown of what each dollar and each step of the process costs, the CA-LAHS Certification Cost 2026 breakdown covers the fee structure in more detail.
How the 150-Question Format Actually Scores
The CA-LAHS combined exam is really two exams stitched into one sitting. Domains 1 through 3 make up a 75-question Life Insurance component, and Domains 4 through 8 make up a 75-question Accident and Health or Sickness component. On the exam blueprint, both halves are given equal weight in the final score - so the Life section and the Accident/Health section each count for half of your total, even though the Accident/Health side has more individual domains packed into its 75 questions.
This matters for how you study. It's easy to assume the side with more listed domains (5 of the 8) deserves more study time, but because the two components are scored evenly at 75 questions apiece, a strong Life Insurance foundation is just as valuable, question-for-question, as strong Accident and Health knowledge. For a domain-by-domain walkthrough of what's tested where, see the CA-LAHS Exam Domains 2026 complete guide to all 8 content areas.
Why "Equal Weight" Doesn't Mean "Equal Effort"
Equal weighting between the two 75-question halves doesn't mean you should split study time 50/50 down the middle. Within each half, individual domains carry very different loads.
- Life Insurance is the single largest domain at 32.5% of the combined exam.
- Medical Expense Insurance follows closely at 30%.
- Together, these two domains alone account for well over half of your 150 questions.
What 60% Looks Like Across All 8 Domains
Because Life Insurance and Medical Expense Insurance dominate the point distribution, your path to 90 correct answers runs directly through them. Here's how the eight domains stack up conceptually, grouped by which 75-question component they belong to.
| Component | Domain | Approx. Weight Signal |
|---|---|---|
| Life (75 questions) | Domain 1: General Insurance | Foundational, lower share |
| Domain 2: Life Insurance | Largest single domain (32.5%) | |
| Domain 3: Life Policy Riders | Supporting detail on Domain 2 concepts | |
| Accident & Health (75 questions) | Domain 4: General Insurance | Foundational, lower share |
| Domain 5: General Concepts of Medical and Disability Insurance | Bridges basic and applied concepts | |
| Domain 6: Medical Expense Insurance | Second-largest domain (30%) | |
| Domain 7: Disability Income Insurance | Moderate share | |
| Domain 8: Long-Term Care Insurance | Moderate share |
If you're weighing how tough this actually feels in practice compared to other insurance exams, the How Hard Is the CA-LAHS Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 unpacks the difficulty curve domain by domain.
Key Takeaway
Spend disproportionate study time on Domain 2 (Life Insurance) and Domain 6 (Medical Expense Insurance) - together they represent well over 60% of the total exam and are your most efficient path to the 90-correct-answer threshold.
What the Pass Rate Data Tells You
For the January through June 2026 window, the English-language first-attempt pass rate on CA-LAHS was 59%. That's close to a coin flip, and it tells you something important: the 60% passing threshold is genuinely demanding, not a formality. What's more revealing is the repeat-attempt pass rate for that same period - just 41%.
That drop from 59% to 41% is the single most useful data point in this article. It doesn't mean the exam gets harder the second time around. It means candidates who fail once and go back in without changing their preparation approach tend to fail again. Retaking the same content the same way rarely closes the gap to 90 correct answers. For the fuller statistical picture, including how these numbers compare across delivery methods, read the CA-LAHS Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows.
What Happens If You Fall Short
Every sitting of the CA-LAHS exam - pass or fail, test center or remote proctored - costs $98 total: the $55 California examination fee plus PSI's $43 convenience fee. There's no discount for a second attempt and no bundled retake pricing. If you fail at 88 correct answers, you pay the full $98 again to try for 90.
This is where the 59%-to-41% pass rate drop becomes a financial argument, not just an academic one. Paying for a second attempt without meaningfully changing how you study Domain 2 and Domain 6 content is a poor use of $98. Before you schedule a retake, it's worth reviewing the CA-LAHS Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt to identify what actually needs to change in your approach, and confirming your eligibility timeline hasn't shifted by checking the CA-LAHS Requirements 2026 eligibility and prerequisites guide.
It's also worth noting that as of January 1, 2026, California eliminated the former 20-hour line-specific prelicensing requirement. Applicants still complete 12 hours of Ethics and California Insurance Code education, including 1 hour on insurance fraud, before a license is issued - but that education requirement is separate from exam content mastery. Passing the exam and completing licensing education are two different boxes to check, and neither substitutes for the other.
Building a Study Timeline Around the Score Target
Once you know the target is 90 correct answers out of 150, and you know Domains 2 and 6 carry the most weight, a study timeline should be sequenced around that reality rather than around a generic week-by-week template. Spaced repetition and active recall both work well here - but only if you're applying them to the highest-yield domains first.
Domain 2: Life Insurance
- Master policy types, ownership provisions, and beneficiary designations
- Drill the terminology that Domain 3 riders build on
Domain 3: Life Policy Riders and Domains 1 & 4: General Insurance
- Layer rider knowledge on top of your Domain 2 foundation
- Cover shared general-insurance concepts that appear in both components
Domain 6: Medical Expense Insurance
- Focus heavily here - it's the second-largest domain at 30%
- Connect it to Domain 5's general medical/disability concepts
Domain 7: Disability Income and Domain 8: Long-Term Care
- Round out the Accident and Health component
- Run full-length 150-question practice sets under a 3-hour time limit
Practicing under real exam conditions matters as much as content review. Timing yourself against the 3-hour limit for a full 150-question set on our practice test platform will show you whether pacing - not knowledge - is what's costing you points near question 130 or 140. For a structured content refresher in the final days before your test date, the CA-LAHS Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts condenses the highest-yield facts across all 8 domains.
Key Takeaway
Sequence your study weeks by domain weight, not alphabetically. Domains 2 and 6 alone can swing you from an 88 to a 92 on exam day.
FAQ
You need 60% correct, which is 90 out of the 150 multiple-choice questions on the combined exam.
No. Both 75-question components are combined into one 150-question exam, and the displayed weighting gives each component equal weight toward your final 60% threshold.
Each attempt costs $98 total - the $55 California examination fee plus PSI's $43 convenience fee - regardless of whether you're testing for the first time or retaking it.
The threshold itself doesn't change, but the January-June 2026 data shows a 41% repeat-attempt pass rate versus a 59% first-attempt pass rate, suggesting most retake failures come from unchanged study habits rather than a harder exam.
Life Insurance (32.5%) and Medical Expense Insurance (30%) are the two largest domains by weight, so mastering them gives you the most efficient route to a passing score. See the CA-LAHS Exam Domains 2026 guide for the full content breakdown.