National Healthcareer Association certification
How to Become a Certified Billing and Coding Specialist (CBCS) in 2026
To become a Certified Billing and Coding Specialist (CBCS) you pass the CBCS exam set by National Healthcareer Association. An entry-level combined billing and coding credential, often bundled into short certificate programs.
There is no licence and no state board in medical coding, so the credential is the qualification. What follows is what the CBCS covers, what it costs in total, who can sit it, what keeps it current, and when it is the right one to choose over CPC or COC.
Exam
Not published
Awarded by
National Healthcareer Association
Renewal
renewal every two years, with 10 continuing education credits and a recertification fee NHA prices at $8 a month; a lapsed credential can be reinstated for one year before it is gone
What is the CBCS certification?
The CBCS, or Certified Billing and Coding Specialist, is a certification awarded by National Healthcareer Association that validates entry-level competence across both billing and coding tasks in a medical office setting. In practice it is the entry credential bundled into many short programmes, and a reasonable start if your target employer accepts it.
National Healthcareer Association points the CBCS at three groups in particular:
- Students in short certificate programmes that bundle the exam
- People entering a small practice where one person bills and codes
- Career changers who want a credential quickly
What does the CBCS exam cover?
The CBCS exam covers 5 areas, as National Healthcareer Association describes them:
- Claims processing, 28 of the 100 scored items
- Payment adjudication, 23 items
- Applied knowledge of coding, 20 items
- Regulatory compliance, 19 items
- Front-end duties, 10 items
What that means in practice: coding is the smallest of the five domains. Only 20 of the 100 scored items test code assignment, while claims processing and payment adjudication together carry 51, so this is a billing exam that asks you to code rather than a coding exam. That suits a small-practice role where one person does both, and fits less well with hospital jobs that split them.
How much does the CBCS exam cost?
National Healthcareer Association does not publish a CBCS exam fee on its credential page or in its candidate handbook, which directs candidates to its store instead, so the price you pay is the one shown at checkout on the day. The renewal cost it does publish is set out below.
The CBCS is taken at a PSI test centre or by live remote proctoring from home, as 100 scored items plus 20 unscored pretest items in a two-hour sitting.
National Healthcareer Association scores the CBCS against a pass mark of a scaled score of 390, on a scale that runs from 200 to 500, so the exam is criterion-referenced: you are measured against a fixed standard rather than graded on a curve against other candidates.
Set that against what the training costs. Tuition on the programmes we rank runs from about $1,100 to $10,100 a year, so for most people the exam is the smaller number, and a programme that bundles the voucher is worth more than its sticker price suggests. See the ranked programmes.
Who can sit the CBCS exam?
Anyone meeting National Healthcareer Association's stated conditions can sit the CBCS. NHA takes candidates by either of two routes: a high school diploma or equivalent plus a billing and coding programme completed within the last five years, or that diploma plus one year of supervised billing and coding work in the last three years, or two years of it in the last five.
Treat this as an admission rule rather than a standard. National Healthcareer Association decides who sits the exam; the exam itself, and then the hiring manager, decide the rest. A programme built specifically around the CBCS is worth more than one that merely leaves you eligible for it, which is why our ranked programmes record the exam each one names.
How do you keep the CBCS?
Keeping the CBCS takes renewal every two years, with 10 continuing education credits and a recertification fee NHA prices at $8 a month; a lapsed credential can be reinstated for one year before it is gone. This is the part people miss when they compare exam fees, because a credential carries a running cost as well as a purchase price.
What sets the CBCS apart
- The credential most often bundled into a programme price, so many students never pay for it separately
- Covers billing and coding together, where AAPC and AHIMA split them into separate credentials
- Less often named in coder job postings than the CPC or the CCA, which is worth weighing before you choose it
How does the CBCS compare with other coding certifications?
The CBCS compares most directly with CPC and COC, and the choice between them follows the employer rather than the credential. The CBCS is the entry credential bundled into many short programmes, and a reasonable start if your target employer accepts it.
| Credential | Body | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|
| CPC | AAPC | the default first credential for physician-practice and outpatient work, and the foundation the other AAPC credentials build on |
| COC | AAPC | the facility-side counterpart to the CPC, for people whose employer is a hospital outpatient department rather than a practice |
What jobs and pay does the CBCS lead to?
The CBCS leads to medical billing and coding specialist, medical biller roles. Federal data files that work as Billing and Posting Clerks, SOC 43-3021, with a median of $48,500 , with the bottom tenth at $37,290 and the top tenth at $67,710, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for May 2025. Pay follows experience and setting more than it follows any single credential, and the lower percentiles are where new entrants sit.
Medical Billing and Coding Specialist
Does both jobs, the norm in small practices, where one person codes the encounter and then chases the claim.
Medical Biller
Submits claims to payers, posts payments, and works denials and appeals until the practice is paid.
Common questions about the CBCS
Who is eligible to sit the CBCS exam?
How do you keep the CBCS once you have it?
Is the CBCS worth it?
Sources
- National Healthcareer Association's own CBCS certification page, read 2026-08-18. The source for what the exam covers, what it costs and what keeps it current.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Median and percentile pay for SOC 43-3021.
- Which programmes prepare you for the CBCS: our ranked list and what accreditation actually means.
National Healthcareer Association revises its fees and requirements periodically, so treat the figures here as read on the date above rather than as a quote.