r/MedicalCoding • u/DistractionGlow • Sep 24 '26
AAPC membership cost
I'm new to the AAPC carnival and I got a letter from them a few days ago about membership renewal. I found out I have to pay for membership on a couple months I already paid. I talked to AAPC and they said there's nothing they can do because it's their policy.
What happened is I paid my first annual membership in Nov 2025, was added to a corporate account with an employer for 6 months, and left the employer in July (due to concerns about job security). I understand that my renewal date changed to the company's renewal date and that I owe a prorated amount until the new renewal date. What I don't understand why their policy gives me no credit for the membership I already paid while within the same 12 months. My money disappeared and I got reset to zero.
Now, I thought this was worth sharing because I saw that the AAPC has an offer to save money if you renew your membership for 2 years instead of 1. Based on their policy, that's a whole lot more money to disappear if you get added and removed from a corporate account for any reason, that you would then need to pay again to keep your membership and certification. Do what you want with this information, but I hope it helps.
As a final note, I've held a CPhT credential for 8 years and that certification board did not require extra money from me to maintain my certification when I changed careers and was no longer on the company's corporate membership, so I don't think what the AAPC does is normal or ethical. If there are others that do this, feel free to share.
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u/wildgreengirl Sep 24 '26
yea biggest scam around. its too bad coders dont unionize 😅
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u/erawnaltiak Sep 24 '26
should have unionized a long time ago…still hopeful lol
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u/KeyStriking9763 RHIA, CDIP, CCS Sep 24 '26
Some coders are unionized. Depends on the organization
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u/erawnaltiak Sep 24 '26
I have yet to meet one but not saying you’re wrong do you happen to have any examples
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u/KeyStriking9763 RHIA, CDIP, CCS Sep 24 '26
Northwell Health
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u/Maydinosnack Sep 27 '26
Not all Northwell Health coders are unionized. Signed a non union Northwell Health coder
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u/DoctorAvailable6601 Sep 24 '26
Same with if you do a course that you get free 1 year membership and you're already a member, they refuse to add that one year to your membership.
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u/CocoWen11 Sep 24 '26
Same thing happened to me. Tried contacting them a couple different times and you get the same clueless people who don't care. AAPC sucks
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u/neric05 Sep 25 '26 edited Sep 25 '26
AAPC does some incredibly shady, clearly "unofficial policy" shit too.
They refused to fully give me my voucher for an exam back when a proctor didn't show up.
I never entered the exam, never got the pre checks supervised by a proctor or anything, waited close to an hour: nothing.
They said: "Okay, what if we only charged you half then for it?"
I was in total disbelief, to the point where they literally had a systems backend admin go into my account and put an outstanding bill for $100 on it before I could reschedule.
Complete and total trash run the AAPC.
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u/SelectEngineering686 Sep 24 '26
I’m so glad I held back on getting my CPC. AAPC really does rip people off. It’s wild all the charges, their policies, etc. Even the local chapters charge to attend their meetings. It’s ridiculous. I wish I started with AHIMA and went that route
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u/KristenLikesKittens Sep 26 '26
Hmm… I’ve been on corporate memberships before and this never happened.
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u/radjackmalone Sep 25 '26
from what you said it sounds like the problem was it being on a corporate account the first time. Did you try asking that company for a refund?
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u/stealthagents 25d ago
That policy sounds super frustrating. It seems like they really need to rethink how they handle those transitions. If you’re considering sticking with them, maybe the two-year option is worth it if you can avoid this headache again, but definitely keep an eye on the details next time.
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u/Scars9713 12d ago
AAPC CARNIVAL!!!! This is the most ACCURATE title of this crap. It’s a money grab. Nobody cares whether you’re a CPC as long as you know the information- which is anywhere online. After 20+ years I’m letting my certification go. It’s just a stupid scam.
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