- The 2026 exam fee is $295, including a $75 nonrefundable administrative portion.
- 200 questions total: 180 scored, 20 unscored, in 3 hours 30 minutes, no scheduled breaks.
- Passing requires a scaled score of 500 on a 200-800 scale, not a fixed percent-correct cutoff.
- Professional standards and business practices is the largest domain at 32.16% (58 items).
Quick Facts Snapshot
This is the one page to bookmark before test day. The Care Manager Certification Examination (CMC) is administered under National Academy of Certified Care Managers (NACCM) sponsorship, with Professional Testing Corporation (PTC) handling applications and scoring and Prometric delivering the computer-based test at testing centers. If you want the full-length reasoning behind any line item below, our CMC Study Guide 2026 and CMC Exam Domains 2026 guide go deeper. This page is deliberately dense - a fast-scan reference, not a tutorial.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Credential name | Care Manager Certified (CMC) |
| Certifying body | National Academy of Certified Care Managers (NACCM) |
| Exam administration | PTC (applications/scoring), Prometric (delivery) |
| 2026 fee | $295 (includes $75 nonrefundable admin component) |
| Question count | 200 (180 scored, 20 unscored pretest) |
| Time limit | 3 hours 30 minutes, no scheduled breaks |
| Passing standard | Scaled score of 500 on 200-800 scale |
| Certification term | 3 years |
| Renewal fee | $215 |
Registration & Fee Mechanics
The 2026 application and examination fee is $295, which covers testing-center charges plus a $75 nonrefundable administrative component. If you need to retest, note that repeat candidates pay the full examination fee again - there's no discounted retake rate. For a complete line-item breakdown of what that fee includes and how it compares to prep resources, see CMC Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Exam Format at a Glance
Every CMC candidate faces the same structural facts, so memorize these before you memorize content:
- 200 multiple-choice questions - 180 scored, 20 unscored pretest items you cannot distinguish from scored ones.
- 3 hours 30 minutes total, closed-book, computer-based at a Prometric testing center.
- No scheduled breaks. If you take an unscheduled break, the clock keeps running.
- No penalty for wrong answers - always select an answer rather than leaving items blank.
For a candid assessment of how these constraints affect difficulty relative to other credentialing exams, read How Hard Is the CMC Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.
The Four Domains, Ranked
The 2026 handbook blueprint is built from a job-task analysis approved April 29, 2022, and organizes content into four domains. Weight your study hours to match these percentages - not evenly across all four.
Domain 4: Professional Standards & Business Practices - 32.16% (58 scored items)
The single largest domain. Covers ethics, documentation, supervision requirements, legal and regulatory compliance, and the business side of care management practice.
- Highest point value on the exam - do not under-prepare it
Domain 1: Assess and Identify Client Strengths, Needs, Concerns, and Preferences - 25.49%
Intake, assessment tools, biopsychosocial evaluation, and identifying client and family priorities.
- Second-largest domain by weight
Domain 3: Initiate, Manage and Monitor Ongoing Execution and Outcomes of Care Plan - 21.66%
Implementation, coordination across providers, monitoring outcomes, and adjusting the plan as client status changes.
- Close behind Domain 2 in weight
Domain 2: Establish Goals and a Plan of Care - 20.69%
Translating assessment findings into a documented, measurable, client-centered plan.
- Smallest domain but still nearly a fifth of the exam
For task-level detail within each of these four areas, our CMC Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 4 Content Areas breaks down sub-tasks and sample question styles.
Key Takeaway
Domain 4 alone accounts for nearly one-third of the exam. If your review time is limited, prioritize professional standards and business practices before anything else.
Eligibility Routes Cheat Sheet
NACCM offers four eligibility pathways, differentiated by degree level and required years of paid, supervised care-management experience. All qualifying employment must fall within the last ten years, and supervised experience must follow the qualifying degree - internships and volunteer work never count.
- Route A: Related master's degree/PhD + 1 year paid supervised care-management employment.
- Route B: Related bachelor's degree (or unrelated bachelor's/master's/PhD plus a qualifying university-based care-management certificate) + 2 years.
- Route C: Related associate degree or RN diploma + 2 years plus 1 additional direct-client year.
- Route D: Unrelated associate/bachelor's/master's/PhD + 3 years plus 1 additional direct-client year.
Each required care-management year must include at least 50 hours of supervision or consultation, and full-time is defined as 35+ hours weekly (part-time equivalence is allowed). Applicants must be currently working in care management and document experience with supervisor verification. Full breakdown with worked examples: CMC Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Scoring & Passing Standard
The CMC uses a scaled score of 500 on a 200-800 scale, set through modified Angoff standard setting and equating - not a fixed percentage-correct cutoff. This means the raw number of questions you need right can shift slightly between forms, though the underlying difficulty standard stays consistent. Official historical results show 82% passing in spring 2025 (42 passed, nine failed) and 75% passing in fall 2025 (63 passed, 21 failed). For the full statistical context behind those numbers, see CMC Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows and CMC Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
Testing Windows & Timeline
NACCM does not offer year-round testing. The published 2026 windows are:
- April 1-30, 2026
- October 1-31, 2026
Certification is valid for three years once earned. Because windows are limited to two months per year, application deadlines and document-verification timing matter - plan backward from your target window. See CMC Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling for a full scheduling checklist.
Recertification Snapshot
Every three years, CMC holders renew by documenting:
- 45 qualifying continuing education (CE) contact hours
- Active, ongoing care-management practice
- Continued professional supervision or consultation
- Ongoing ethical compliance
The posted renewal fee is $215. Note that the initial 50-hour annual supervision requirement tied to eligibility is a separate concept from the 45-CE-hour renewal minimum - don't conflate the two. Candidates who cannot meet CE criteria may instead renew by re-examination under the current application requirements and fee.
Final-Week Review Plan
In the last week before your test date, shift from learning new material to reinforcing weak spots by domain weight. This isn't generic exam advice - it's sequenced specifically around the CMC blueprint.
Domain 4 Reinforcement
- Review ethics scenarios and documentation standards - the highest-weighted domain deserves the most review time
Domains 1 & 3
- Drill assessment tools and care-plan monitoring/adjustment scenarios back to back since they're similarly weighted
Domain 2 & Mixed Review
- Finish with goal-setting and care-plan construction, then run mixed-domain question sets
Logistics & Light Review
- Confirm Prometric appointment details, review flagged weak areas only, rest
Rather than reinventing this timeline, our CMC Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt lays out a complete multi-week plan, and you can pair it with full-length timed practice on our CMC practice test platform to simulate the 3-hour-30-minute format under real conditions.
Key Takeaway
PTC's official practice test is short (50 questions, two hours) and offers no rationales - plan to supplement it with a full-length timed simulation from our practice test site before test day.
Who Values This Credential
CMC holders typically work in aging-life-care/geriatric care management practices, hospital discharge planning, elder-law-affiliated care coordination, and private care management firms serving families navigating long-term care decisions. If you're weighing this credential against other options in the field, our Is the CMC Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and CMC Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis cover career positioning, and CMC Jobs surveys where the credential shows up in postings. Candidates researching credential differences also frequently search "CMC vs CCM" - if that's you, start with What Is CMC Certification? and CMC Certification for foundational definitions before comparing.
FAQ
There are 200 total multiple-choice questions: 180 are scored and 20 are unscored pretest items used for future exam development. You cannot tell them apart during the test.
The 2026 application/examination fee is $295, which includes testing-center charges and a $75 nonrefundable administrative component. Repeat candidates pay the full fee again if they need to retest.
Professional standards and business practices (Domain 4) carries the most weight at 32.16% and 58 scored items, making it the highest-priority content area, followed by assessment (Domain 1) at 25.49%.
The published 2026 testing windows are April 1-30 and October 1-31. There is no continuous year-round testing, so scheduling around these windows is essential.
Certification lasts three years. Renewal requires 45 qualifying CE contact hours, active care-management practice, ongoing supervision/consultation, ethical compliance, and a $215 renewal fee - or re-examination if CE criteria aren't met.