ACoBS Employee Benefits Certification Database: 6 certification programs as open data

Structured comparison data on the four ACoBS employee benefits certifications for the U.S. market — CMBS (medical), CPBS (pharmacy), RBMS (retirement) and VBMS (voluntary benefits) — plus the two official bundle options. Per program: list price in USD, CEU accreditations (SHRM, HRCI, ACPE, L&H), delivery formats, focus area, primary audience and regulatory coverage. All facts documented on this site's editorial review pages.

About this dataset: 6 certification programs. Prices: List prices in USD as published by ACoBS and documented on this site's editorial review pages (status: 2025). Monthly and quarterly payment plans are available for all options; bundle savings are calculated against single-certification pricing. License: CC BY 4.0 – use and citation expressly permitted, attribution: employee-benefits-certification.com.
Machine-readable: daten/acobs-certifications.json (complete raw data incl. all attributes and source references)

All 6 certification programs at a glance

Sorted by price ascending; the four single certifications share the same price and appear in site order (CMBS, CPBS, RBMS, VBMS), followed by the two bundles. Each program name links to the page its facts come from.

Name CEU Credits Delivery Formats Focus Area Price Provider
CMBS — Certified Medical Benefits Specialist SHRM, HRCI, L&H Virtual instructor-led (expert-led group) Medical plans, ACA, cost containment $2,750 ACoBS (ad)
CPBS — Certified Pharmacy Benefits Specialist ACPE, SHRM, HRCI, L&H Virtual instructor-led, self-paced online, in-person, on-demand PBMs, formulary, specialty drugs $2,750 ACoBS (ad)
RBMS — Retirement Benefits Management Specialist SHRM, HRCI, L&H Virtual instructor-led (expert-led group) 401(k), ERISA fiduciary, pensions $2,750 ACoBS (ad)
VBMS — Voluntary Benefits Management Specialist SHRM, HRCI, L&H Virtual instructor-led (expert-led group) Voluntary products, total rewards $2,750 ACoBS (ad)
Certification Bundle (any 2 programs) $4,125 ACoBS (ad)
Full Access Bundle (all 4 programs) $7,195 ACoBS (ad)

“–” = value not documented to us (we do not guess values). List prices in USD as published by ACoBS and documented on this site's editorial review pages (status: 2025). Monthly and quarterly payment plans are available for all options; bundle savings are calculated against single-certification pricing. All provider links are affiliate links (ad).

Use & Cite the Data

This dataset is published under the CC BY 4.0 license. You may copy, reuse and cite the data – commercially and in AI applications, too. The only condition: name employee-benefits-certification.com as the source.

Open the JSON dataset

Where the Data Comes From

All facts come from this site's editorial review pages, which document the officially published ACoBS program information (curriculum, accreditation, pricing). Fields without a documented value are deliberately left empty. Each program in the JSON links its source.

Change History

  • 2026-09-01Price verification against official acobs.org pages (FAQ + individual certification pages): all 4 single certifications confirmed at $2,750, both bundles confirmed at $4,125 and $7,195 — no changes. priceSource added per item.
  • 2026-08-12Initial release with 4 certification programs and 2 bundle options

Further Reading

This Page Contains Ads

Links labeled (ad) are affiliate links. If you enroll through one of them, we may earn a commission – at no additional cost to you. Our partner: ACoBS. Thank you for your support!