CBCS Exam Prep — Practice Questions for NHA’s Certified Billing and Coding Specialist Exam
Work 1,000 original practice questions built to NHA’s 2020 CBCS test plan — the revenue cycle, eligibility and payer rules, coding and coding guidelines, billing and reimbursement — every question with a grounded explanation, so a wrong answer teaches the guideline, the sequence, or the payer rule that decided it. This is prep for NHA’s CBCS credential: the specialist who finds the right codes in the manuals, sequences them correctly, and owns the claim through payment.
The exam you are preparing for
- 100 scored questions, plus 25 unscored pretest questions mixed in (125 total).
- 3 hours (180 minutes) for the full sitting, multiple choice throughout.
- The CPT, ICD-10-CM, and HCPCS coding manuals are required at the exam — you test with them open on the desk.
- Delivered at your school, at a PSI testing center, or by live remote proctoring.
- Passing standard: a scaled score of 390 on NHA’s 200–500 scale — a scaled score, not a percentage.
- The PassProfessor practice exam draws 100 questions at the real plan weights (15/20/32/33) under a 180-minute clock.
What’s inside
- A free 12-question sample — the format, the difficulty, and the explanations, before you pay anything.
- A full 100-question practice exam at the real weights, on the real clock.
- Four domain drills — revenue cycle and compliance, eligibility and payers, coding guidelines, billing and reimbursement — for targeted work where you are weakest.
- A grounded explanation on every question: the guideline, the convention, or the payer rule that makes the keyed answer right and the close answers wrong.
What the bank covers
- The Revenue Cycle and Regulatory Compliance (15% of the exam). The claim’s life from scheduling to zero balance, HIPAA and compliance obligations, fraud and abuse rules, and the documentation the cycle runs on.
- Insurance Eligibility and Other Payer Requirements (20%). Verifying coverage, coordination of benefits, Medicare and Medicaid rules, commercial payer requirements, authorizations and referrals.
- Coding and Coding Guidelines (32%). ICD-10-CM, CPT, and HCPCS Level II — guideline application, code-set navigation, sequencing, modifiers, and the conventions that decide between close codes.
- Billing and Reimbursement (33%). Claim forms and submission, payment posting, denials and appeals, fee schedules, and the reimbursement methods payers actually use.
How the practice works
Questions come in the order the work actually flows — eligibility before coding, coding before the claim — so the bank trains revenue-cycle judgment, not trivia. Every item is scenario-set the way the exam sets them: a denied claim with a reason code, a report with two procedures and one modifier decision, a guideline that chooses between close codes.
Practice the way you will test. The real exam requires the current CPT, ICD-10-CM, and HCPCS manuals at the desk, so this bank is built for open-manual work: no item asks you to recite a code number from memory. Items test what the manuals reward — finding the entry, reading the guideline notes, sequencing principal and secondary diagnoses, and choosing the modifier the documentation supports.
When you miss one, the explanation closes the loop: the guideline that applies, the convention that governs, the payer rule that paid or denied — so the same trap stops costing you.
Who this is for
Built for billing and coding students finishing a training program, coders moving from supervised work toward certification, and candidates returning for a retake. Eligibility for the real exam follows NHA’s standard pattern:
- A high school diploma or GED — or a diploma expected within 18 months under NHA’s provisional-certification window.
- A billing and coding training program completed within the last 5 years, OR supervised billing and coding work — 1 year within the last 3 years, or 2 years within the last 5.
- Candidates testing at a PSI site must be 18 or older.
Frequently asked questions
What is the CBCS?
The Certified Billing and Coding Specialist is NHA’s credential for billing and coding work: assigning codes from the documentation, building clean claims, working denials, and keeping the revenue cycle inside the compliance lines.
How is the CBCS scored?
NHA reports CBCS results on a 200–500 scale, and the passing standard is a scaled score of 390. A scaled score is not a percentage — it does not mean 78% of questions answered correctly, and it cannot be converted into one. The 70% mark on PassProfessor practice exams is a practice benchmark only, chosen to be demanding; it is not NHA’s standard.
Do I take the CBCS exam with the coding manuals?
Yes. The CPT, ICD-10-CM, and HCPCS manuals are required at the exam — the test is taken with the manuals open. That is why this bank never asks you to recite a code number from memory: it trains the navigation, guideline, and sequencing judgment the manuals reward.
Is this a CPC prep program?
No. The CBCS and AAPC’s CPC are different credentials from different organizations, tested differently. This program prepares you for NHA’s CBCS exam only — it is not a CPC product, and it does not prepare you for the CPC exam.
What if I fail the real exam?
You can retake it after a 30-day wait. After a third failed attempt, NHA requires a one-year wait — the drills exist so a retake targets the domains that actually cost you, rather than restarting from zero.
How do I keep the credential?
The CBCS renews every two years with 10 continuing-education credits and a $195 renewal fee ($65 for each additional active NHA certification you hold).
Are the questions original?
Yes — 100% original and written for this program. They are not copied from NHA materials, from another prep provider, or from any published question bank; the facts and test plan come from NHA’s published sources, and every question, distractor, and explanation was written from scratch against them.
Price and access
Full access is $39 — the complete 1,000-question bank, the full practice exam, and every domain drill. There are no per-attempt fees and no subscription; the free 12-question sample shows the format, the difficulty, and the explanation style before you pay anything.
PassProfessor is an independent test-preparation provider. This program is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Healthcareer Association (NHA); CBCS is NHA’s credential, and the exam itself is administered by NHA through its testing partners.