AHIP certification and carrier recerts: the plain-English guide for plan year 2027
Last checked: October 30, 2026. Plan year 2027 training is open now. Plan year 2028 dates haven’t been announced.
The short answer: AHIP’s Medicare + Fraud, Waste and Abuse training (most agents just call it “AHIP”) is the yearly Medicare course many carriers use to meet CMS’s training and testing rule. The plan year 2027 course opened on June 22, 2026. The list price is $175, and some carriers offer a discounted link. The final exam has 50 questions, you need 90% to pass, and FMOs report three tries per purchase. Passing AHIP isn’t the finish line, though. You can’t sell a carrier’s plans until you’ve also finished that carrier’s requirements and you’re ready to sell.
What AHIP certification is, and why you take it every year
Federal rules require Medicare Advantage and Part D plans to make sure the agents selling their plans are trained and tested every year, and agents must score 85% or higher on all forms of that testing (42 CFR § 422.2274).
Carriers don’t each want to teach Medicare basics from scratch, so many accept a shared course for the general part. AHIP’s is the best known. NABIP offers another, and Wellcare, for one, lists both. AHIP says the majority of its member organizations and partners accept only AHIP’s course, so ask each of your carriers which one they accept before you buy.
When does AHIP open?
Late June, in recent years.
| Plan year | AHIP training opened |
|---|---|
| 2026 | June 23, 2025 |
| 2027 | June 22, 2026 |
| 2028 | Not announced yet. Likely late June 2027. |
These dates come from FMO announcements. AHIP’s own course page confirms the plan year 2027 course is available.
A note on “AHIP 2027”: people mean two different things by it. If you mean the course for plan year 2027 (the plans being sold in this AEP), it’s open now. If you mean the course you’ll take during 2027, that’s the plan year 2028 course, and nothing about it has been published yet. We’ll update this page when it is.
Is there an AHIP certification deadline?
AHIP itself doesn’t set one. The dates that matter come from CMS and your carriers:
- October 1: the first day plans can start marketing next year’s plans (42 CFR § 422.2263).
- October 15 to December 7: the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP).
- Your carriers’ own dates. Each carrier decides when its certification opens and when you have to finish. Those dates are in each carrier’s agent portal, not on AHIP’s site.
In practice: you need AHIP and each carrier’s certification done, and “ready to sell” showing, before you present or enroll that carrier’s plans for the new plan year. Finishing in July or August leaves you room before marketing starts on October 1.
How much does AHIP cost?
- List price: $175, on AHIP’s course page.
- Discounted price through a carrier link: AHIP says carrier-specific rates go through the carrier, and one FMO reports $50 off through carriers like Humana and UnitedHealthcare. Start from your carrier’s or FMO’s link before you buy.
- CE credit is separate. AHIP offers it in all 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Set it up before you start the final exam, because some states also require a monitor.
- Refunds: check AHIP’s refund policy before you open the course. Requests have to be made in writing.
How many attempts do you get, and what score do you need?
- The final exam: 50 questions drawn from all five modules, two hours, 90% to pass, and it’s not open book, according to AHIP’s training site and FAQ.
- Attempts: FMO Action Benefits reports that the price includes three. Carriers can set their own rules on top of that, so ask yours.
- The exam submits itself at the two-hour mark. AHIP counts an attempt only when it’s submitted.
Practical tip: Action Benefits says many of its staff find the module review questions the best way to study. Use them before you use up a real attempt.
Carrier certifications and “ready to sell”
AHIP covers the general Medicare part. Then each carrier adds its own requirements, and only when all of that is done does the carrier treat you as ready to sell (often shortened to RTS). Requirements change every year, so your carrier’s portal has the final word. For where each carrier shows it, and what to check when it isn’t showing, see how to check your ready-to-sell status.
| Carrier | Where to look | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Humana | Vantage, Humana’s agent portal | Check your certification and ready-to-sell status there, or ask Humana’s agent support. |
| Aetna | Aetna’s Medicare certification site | Aetna requires annual certification, an active contract and market-specific training for each state and market where you’ll sell MA/MAPD. It says you must verify you’re ready to sell, using the map in Producer World or by asking your recruiter. See its producer FAQs. |
| Wellcare | The Training menu in the Centene Workbench portal | Wellcare’s Annual Certification Training plus AHIP or NABIP. Wellcare sends a “Ready to Sell” email when you’ve finished, per its 2027 broker roadmap. |
| UnitedHealthcare | Jarvis, UnitedHealthcare’s agent portal | Check this year’s required assessments and your status there. |
Two things catch agents every year:
- Passing AHIP doesn’t put your score everywhere by itself. AHIP’s site can send your score to several carriers, but each carrier has to receive it. AHIP’s own advice is to confirm that your score arrived.
- “Certified” isn’t the same as “ready to sell.” An unfinished contract or a missing requirement can keep you off the list even after every course is done. It’s also a good time to check your license renewal dates.
Certification-season checklist
Print this or copy it into whatever you use. Whether it’s just you or a few people, keep one row per person, per carrier.
Before AHIP opens (May to June)
- List everyone who sells and every carrier each person sells. Include any carrier you’ll add this year.
- Confirm state licenses are active and won’t lapse before December 7. (See license renewals.)
- Collect the AHIP discount link from each carrier or your FMO, and buy through it.
- Ask each carrier whether it accepts NABIP, and whether it has its own attempt limit.
When AHIP opens (late June)
- Create or sign in to your AHIP account.
- Decide whether you want CE credit before starting the final exam.
- Track each attempt, so nobody runs out of tries by surprise.
- Save the AHIP certificate when you pass.
Carrier certifications (July to September)
- For each carrier: send your AHIP score and confirm the carrier received it.
- Finish each carrier’s own modules and attestations.
- Check contracts and appointments for each carrier in each state.
- Check ready-to-sell status in each carrier’s portal and write down the date you saw it.
Before October 1
- Everyone shows ready to sell with every carrier they’ll present, in every state they’ll sell in.
- Anything missing has a named next step and someone following up.
- No AEP appointments are booked with a carrier that person can’t sell yet.
After AEP (December)
- Note what slowed you down this year and set next year’s reminders now.
Why certification season goes sideways
If you’ve spent a September evening clicking through four carrier portals trying to work out what’s done, you’re not disorganized. Look at what you’re keeping track of: one AHIP course, a different certification for each carrier, separate ready-to-sell lists, and a separate set of states. If anyone else sells with you, multiply all of that by the number of people in your office.
Your CRM keeps clients and policies. It wasn’t built to know that Aetna’s training is still unfinished. A wall calendar can hold the date AHIP opens. It can’t tell you what you haven’t started. And the cost of finding out late is real: if you aren’t ready to sell with a carrier on October 15, you can’t write that carrier’s plans for the clients who want them.
How Formation handles certification season
Formation is insurance agency software Sam Brown builds for independent Medicare, life and final-expense agents. It isn’t a CRM. It works next to the one you have.
You enter a contract or a license once. After that, Formation does the remembering.
Each person’s carriers and certifications go in once. Every morning, Formation checks them against your rules, such as “warn me when a recert is due inside 45 days,” and puts what still needs you on one screen: which carriers still need this year’s cert, and for which agents. A short email at 7:00 AM tells you the same thing. If everything’s on track, you hear nothing.
The same morning check watches carrier contracts, license renewals, call-backs and client follow-ups, so certification season isn’t one more list to keep up by hand. It’s running every morning today at an independent Medicare & final-expense agency.
You don’t need to be good with computers. You tell Sam how your office runs, in plain words, and he builds it himself. Builds start at $5,000. Most agencies invest $10,000 to $18,000. You pay one piece at a time as it’s built, and you can take a full copy of your information whenever you want it. Build in the quiet months after December 7 and it’s tested before next certification season.
When you don’t need this: if you work alone and sell for just a carrier or two, the checklist above may be all you need. Formation makes more sense when you’re keeping track of several carriers or several people, or of certifications alongside licenses and contracts.
Questions agents ask
What is AHIP certification?
It’s the yearly Medicare + Fraud, Waste and Abuse training from AHIP (America’s Health Insurance Plans, the health insurers’ trade group). Many carriers accept it to meet the federal rule that agents selling Medicare Advantage and Part D plans be trained and tested every year. It’s only the first step: each carrier you sell for also has its own certification before it shows you as ready to sell.
When does AHIP certification open each year?
In recent years, AHIP’s Medicare + Fraud, Waste and Abuse training has opened in late June: June 23, 2025 for plan year 2026, and June 22, 2026 for plan year 2027, according to FMO announcements. AHIP hasn’t announced a date for the plan year 2028 course.
How much does AHIP certification cost, and is there a discount?
AHIP’s list price is $175. Some carriers have arranged discounts through their own registration links, and one FMO reports $50 off through Humana and UnitedHealthcare. CE credit is separate and has to be set up before the final exam.
How many attempts do you get on the AHIP exam?
FMOs report that the price includes three attempts at the final exam. Carriers can have their own rules on top of that, so check with each of yours before you run out of tries.
What score do you need to pass AHIP?
The AHIP final exam has 50 questions and a two-hour limit, and you need 90% to pass. It isn’t open book. Federal rules separately require agents to score at least 85% on the training and testing that Medicare plans give them.
Is there a deadline for AHIP certification?
AHIP doesn’t set a single deadline. You need AHIP and each carrier’s certification done, and the carrier must show you as ready to sell, before you market or enroll its plans for the new year. Marketing for the next plan year can start October 1, and the Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 to December 7. Carriers post their own dates in their agent portals.
Does passing AHIP mean I’m ready to sell?
No. AHIP covers the general Medicare training. Each carrier also has its own requirements, usually including its own certification and an active contract, before it treats you as ready to sell. Check your status in each carrier’s portal.
What’s the difference between AHIP and carrier certifications?
AHIP is the general Medicare and Fraud, Waste and Abuse training that many carriers accept. A carrier certification is that carrier’s own training on its plans, and every carrier you sell for has its own. You usually need both, plus an active contract, before a carrier shows you as ready to sell.
How do I keep track of which carriers I’m certified with?
Keep one row per person, per carrier, for each plan year: whether AHIP is done, whether the carrier received your score, where its own certification stands, and the date you saw ready to sell in its portal. A spreadsheet works fine for a carrier or two. The free recert tracker on this site has those columns.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules change, and your state’s insurance department and your carriers have the final word.