- Michigan's July 2026 report shows a 45.28% first-time pass rate and a 36.39% overall pass rate for Series 16-80.
- You need 75% correct out of 150 scored questions to pass, delivered in a 2 hour 30 minute window.
- Michigan discontinued remote testing in June 2025 - every attempt now happens at an authorized PSI test center.
- Insurance Regulation is the single largest domain at 11.5% of the exam, so weak regulatory knowledge disproportionately hurts your score.
What Michigan's 2026 Pass Rate Data Actually Shows
The Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services, which oversees the Life, Accident and Health Producer exam administered by PSI as Series 16-80, released a July 2026 report showing a 45.28% first-time pass rate and a 36.39% overall pass rate. Those two numbers matter more than most candidates realize, and reading them correctly changes how you should approach preparation.
A 45.28% first-time pass rate means that fewer than half of candidates who sit for Series 16-80 for the very first time clear the 75% cut score on their initial attempt. The overall pass rate of 36.39% is lower still, because it folds in repeat attempts by candidates who failed once (or more) and came back. When the overall figure sits below the first-time figure, it signals that retakes are not automatically easier - some candidates who fail once struggle again, often because they didn't change their study approach the second time around.
If you want the full picture of exam difficulty beyond the raw percentages, our companion piece on how hard the MI L&H exam really is breaks down why the pass rate sits where it does, separate from the numbers alone.
Why the First-Time and Overall Numbers Differ
It's tempting to average the 45.28% and 36.39% figures and assume a "typical" candidate has roughly a coin-flip chance. That's the wrong way to use this data. The gap between the two rates tells you something specific about how candidates prepare:
- First attempt (45.28%): Reflects candidates coming in fresh off their 40 hours of combined Life and Health prelicensing education, with material still relatively recent.
- Overall rate (36.39%): Pulls the average down because it includes people testing for a second or third time - often without materially changing their study strategy between attempts.
The practical takeaway: your best odds are on the first attempt, while your knowledge is freshest and before your prelicensing certificate or original exam eligibility window starts working against you. Since a passing result and the prelicensing certificate are each valid for only 12 months, drifting through multiple failed attempts without a structural change to your prep can eat into that window fast.
Key Takeaway
Treat your first attempt as the one that matters most. A structured review using a resource like the MI L&H cheat sheet in the final week, paired with full-length practice on our practice test platform, does more for your odds than spreading a second attempt out over months.
Which Domains Are Most Likely Sinking Candidates
Michigan's Series 16-80 content outline hasn't changed since May 1, 2020, so the weighting below has been stable for years - meaning the domains most likely to catch candidates off guard are predictable, not random. Insurance Regulation, at 11.5%, is the largest single domain on the exam. If a candidate's prelicensing course spent limited time on Michigan-specific regulatory nuances, that's an outsized point of failure relative to its weight.
Domain 1: Insurance Regulation (11.5%)
The single heaviest domain on the exam. Candidates must know licensing requirements, producer conduct standards, and the state's regulatory framework in enough depth to answer scenario-based questions, not just definitions.
- Highest point value of any domain - under-preparing here has the largest downside
Domain 2: General Insurance (10%) & Domain 3: Life Insurance Basics (10%)
Together these two domains carry as much weight as Insurance Regulation. They cover foundational insurance concepts and life insurance fundamentals that later domains (policies, riders, annuities) build on.
- Weak fundamentals here compound into confusion on later policy-provision questions
Domain 8: Accident and Health Insurance Basics (10%)
Tied with Life Insurance Basics for the largest health-side domain. Candidates coming from a life-insurance background sometimes under-invest here relative to its weight.
- Equal weight to Life Insurance Basics - don't let familiarity with life topics crowd out health study time
Domain 14: Health Insurance for Senior Citizens and Special Needs Individuals (8%)
A frequently underestimated domain given its weight. It sits above several better-known domains like Group Health Insurance and Disability Income, so treating it as a minor topic is a common mistake.
- At 8%, it outweighs Group Health Insurance, Dental Insurance, and both federal tax domains combined
By contrast, Dental Insurance (1.5%) and Federal Tax Considerations for Health Insurance (2%) carry minimal weight - useful to know, but not where hours should be concentrated in the final weeks. For the complete weighting across all 15 domains, see the full MI L&H exam domains guide.
Exam Format Mechanics That Affect Your Odds
The pass rate doesn't exist in a vacuum - it's a function of exact exam mechanics that every candidate should internalize before scheduling a seat. Series 16-80 consists of 150 scored multiple-choice questions plus 1 to 10 unscored experimental items mixed in without being labeled, within a 2 hour 30 minute testing window. You need a 75% cut score to pass.
| Exam Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Scored questions | 150 multiple-choice |
| Unscored experimental items | 1 to 10 (unlabeled, mixed in) |
| Time allowed | 2 hours 30 minutes |
| Passing score | 75% |
| Testing format | In-person only at authorized PSI test centers (remote testing discontinued June 2025) |
| Exam fee | $41 |
Because the unscored items are indistinguishable from scored ones, candidates can't identify and skip them - every question has to be treated as if it counts. That reality, combined with the fixed 2 hour 30 minute window across 150+ questions, means pacing matters as much as raw knowledge. A candidate who knows the material but runs out of time on the back third of the exam still fails. For a deeper breakdown of exactly what 75% requires question-by-question, see our guide to the MI L&H passing score.
Registration, Fees, and Retake Mechanics
Before the pass-rate data even comes into play, candidates have to clear administrative requirements that shape how many realistic attempts they get. Michigan requires 40 hours of combined Life and Health prelicensing education unless exempt, and both the resulting prelicensing certificate and a passing exam result are valid for only 12 months. That 12-month clock is a quiet but real factor behind the gap between the first-time and overall pass rates: candidates who fail and then delay a retake risk needing to redo prelicensing coursework if too much time passes.
The exam fee itself is $41 per sitting through PSI. That's a modest cost per attempt, but repeated failed attempts add up in both money and, more importantly, time against your certificate's validity window. For a full breakdown of every cost involved in licensing - not just the exam fee - see our MI L&H certification cost breakdown, and check current testing availability on our practice test homepage before you lock in a date.
If you're still confirming you meet baseline eligibility before registering, the MI L&H requirements guide walks through prelicensing hours, exemptions, and documentation PSI will check at the test center.
How to Study Against the Data, Not Against Average Advice
Given that Insurance Regulation, General Insurance, both insurance-basics domains, and Health Insurance for Senior Citizens together account for a large share of total exam weight, your remaining study weeks should be allocated proportionally rather than evenly across all 15 domains.
Heaviest Domains First
- Insurance Regulation (11.5%), General Insurance (10%), Life Insurance Basics (10%)
- Build a working knowledge base before layering on policy-specific detail
Health-Side Weight
- Accident and Health Insurance Basics (10%), Medical Plans (9%), Health Insurance for Senior Citizens and Special Needs Individuals (8%)
Mid-Weight Life & Group Topics
- Life Insurance Policy Provisions, Options, and Riders (10%), Disability Income and Related Insurance (5.5%), Group Health Insurance (5%), Life Insurance Policies (5%), Individual Accident and Health Insurance Policy General Provisions (5%)
Low-Weight Cleanup and Timed Practice
- Annuities (4%), Federal Tax Considerations for Life Insurance, Annuities, and Qualified Plans (3.5%), Federal Tax Considerations for Health Insurance (2%), Dental Insurance (1.5%)
- Full-length timed practice runs to rehearse the 2 hour 30 minute pace
This kind of weighted schedule is the core method behind our MI L&H study guide for passing on the first attempt - the goal is to make sure your limited study hours go where the exam actually puts its points, rather than spreading effort evenly across domains that carry very different weights.
Key Takeaway
Spend your last week doing full 150-question timed simulations, not new content. Given the fixed 2 hour 30 minute window, pacing practice on a full practice exam is as valuable as reviewing weak domains.
For candidates weighing whether the licensing effort pays off once they pass, our ROI analysis of the MI L&H certification looks at the career side of the equation, and roles that typically hire licensed producers are covered in our MI L&H jobs overview.
Frequently Asked Questions
Michigan's July 2026 report shows a 45.28% first-time pass rate and a 36.39% overall pass rate for the Life, Accident and Health Producer exam (Series 16-80).
The overall rate includes repeat attempts by candidates who failed at least once. Many retake candidates don't restructure their study approach, which keeps the overall figure below the first-time figure.
You need a 75% cut score, applied to 150 scored multiple-choice questions. Up to 10 additional unscored experimental items may appear but don't count toward your result.
No. Michigan discontinued remote insurance examinations in June 2025. All Series 16-80 attempts now happen at authorized PSI test centers under the bulletin effective June 10, 2025.
A passing exam result is valid for 12 months, the same validity period as the 40-hour prelicensing education certificate. Plan remaining licensing steps within that window.