FFM Certification 2027: Dates, Training, Cost, and Steps

As of September 22, 2026, 2027 FFM training is open to returning agents. CMS's Registration and Training page says 2027 registration and training "is now available for returning agents and brokers" on the Marketplace Learning Management System (MLMS). New-agent training isn't out yet; CMS says information "will be available soon" for agents who did not complete 2026 training.

FFM certification is the annual registration, training, and agreements an agent or broker completes with CMS before helping consumers enroll through HealthCare.gov. It covers the individual ACA Marketplace. AHIP Medicare training is a different program and does not complete it.

For plan year 2027, the CMS training is free and runs on the MLMS through the CMS Enterprise Portal. HealthCare.gov Open Enrollment for 2027 coverage runs November 1, 2026 to January 15, 2027, with December 15 the last day to enroll for January 1 coverage. CMS has not posted the date returning-agent training went live or a release date for new-agent training.

FFM certification 2027 dates

CMS has opened 2027 training for returning agents and published the Open Enrollment window. It has not posted a release date for new-agent training. The table separates what CMS has posted for 2027 from how the 2026 cycle ran, so you can plan from the pattern without treating it as a promise.

The 2025 Marketplace Integrity and Affordability rule had moved the federal-platform end date to December 15. On June 12, 2026, the District of Maryland struck parts of that rule in City of Columbus v. Kennedy, and CMS's July 27, 2026 statement says HHS has not altered the Open Enrollment dates in 45 CFR 155.410(e)(4). HHS filed a notice of appeal to the Fourth Circuit on July 16, 2026, so the window could still change; check CMS before you plan around January 15. State-run Marketplaces may set different dates within the federal timing limits, so use the calendar for the Marketplace where you assist consumers.

Who needs federal Marketplace registration

Check the CMS marketplace map for plan year 2027. It distinguishes the 27 states with a Federally-facilitated Marketplace, including Florida and Texas, from Arkansas and Oklahoma, whose state-based Marketplaces use the federal platform, and from the 22 state-based Marketplaces, including the District of Columbia, that run their own platforms.

The federal registration standards apply in the 27 FFM states and to agents using the federal platform in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Agents working through a state-run platform follow that Marketplace's requirements. CMS explains the federal-platform scope in its letter to issuers.

You also need an active state license with a health line of authority in your resident state. Federal registration does not replace it or settle your contracting with an insurer. This guide covers the individual Marketplace; SHOP-only registration has its own process.

New and returning agents take different training

CMS's registration page defines the 2027 paths:

A returning agent is one whose NPN appears on the plan year 2026 Registration Completion List. CMS's returning-agent webinar says to check that list first; if you believe you completed 2026 and are not on it, email FFMProducer-AssisterHelpDesk@cms.hhs.gov before you start the 2027 training. Use your existing FFM User ID either way. A gap in training is not a reason to create a second account.

The CMS training modules and exam

CMS has not posted 2027 module names. What follows is the plan year 2026 curriculum from CMS's own registration webinars, labeled as such, because it is the closest published guide to what 2027 will look like.

For new agents, CMS's September 16, 2025 webinar lists five core modules in the full Individual Marketplace training, in the order CMS listed them:

1. Welcome to the Marketplace
2. Assisting Consumers After Enrollment
3. Marketplace Coverage
4. Maintaining Compliance
5. Enrolling Consumers in Coverage

The MLMS shows the next launch link as you finish each module. Each lesson has knowledge checks. After the modules, one Marketplace training exam of 10 questions follows, and you need a score of 70% or better for credit. An optional Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) course is available for agents who also work with SHOP; training is optional for SHOP-only agents.

For returning agents, CMS's September 18, 2025 webinar describes Marketplace Training for Returning Agents and Brokers as one required module and one required exam, again 10 questions at 70%. The MLMS enrolls returning agents in it automatically. The full curriculum and SHOP training stay available as optional extras.

CMS's registration page says 2027 training is available in English and Spanish.

FFM certification cost: the CMS training is free

The MLMS training and registration have no fee. HealthCare.gov's quick-start guide says the free CMS training does not offer continuing education units. The HHS-approved vendor path, which carried CE credit, is gone for 2027 under the 2027 final rule; CMS says agents complete training directly through CMS.

AHIP does not sell an FFM course. AHIP's Marketplace training page, last updated for plan year 2025, says Marketplace training is offered only through the MLMS and sends agents to the CMS portal. The AHIP price you see quoted, $175 in AHIP's FAQ, is for its Medicare training, a separate program covered in AHIP certification cost.

If you want state CE credit for Marketplace training, the free CMS course will not give it to you for 2027. Plan CE separately.

How long FFM certification takes

CMS gives one time estimate: the required portion of the returning-agent training takes about one hour. Add a few minutes for the profile update and the agreements. CMS has not published an estimate for the full five-module curriculum, so a new agent should set aside a working session for the modules and a separate one for account setup and identity proofing.

Account creation ends with a confirmation email, and you log out and back in to request the training role. After you finish, your NPN appears on the Registration Completion List in one to two business days and on Find Local Help in up to three. CMS's September 22, 2025 bulletin says Help On Demand training opens one business day after registration.

Two account rules affect returning agents. You must log in every 60 days to keep your portal password active, otherwise you reset it. If you do not log in to the MLMS for more than a year, CMS deactivates the account and you repeat identity proofing with the same FFM User ID.

FFM certification steps for 2027

CMS's new-agent guide sets out seven steps. Returning agents follow CMS's 2027 returning-agent guide instead, which starts by linking a Login.gov or ID.me sign-in to the existing portal account and requesting the training role. CMS warns that skipping the linking blocks access to the MLMS. From there, returning agents pick up at step 4.

1. Create or recover your CMS Enterprise Portal account. Choose New User Registration only if you have never had an FFM User ID. Select the Federally Facilitated Marketplace (FFM)/Request for MLMS Training Access application. Multi-factor authentication is required.
2. Request the Agent Broker Training Access role. Log back in after the confirmation email, open Add Application, search "Fed", and pick the same FFM application, then the Agent Broker Training Access role.
3. Complete remote identity proofing. Use personal contact details, never business ones. Log out and back in when it finishes.
4. Complete your MLMS profile. Open the Marketplace Training - Agent Broker tile and select MLMS Training. Choose the Agent Broker role; the Not an Agent Broker option makes you ineligible for the plan year until you change it. Enter your individual NPN in the individual field. Add a business or web-broker NPN only if you are that entity's authorized representative. This profile feeds Find Local Help and Help On Demand.
5. Complete the assigned 2027 training and pass the exam. Open Curriculum from Your Transcript and work through the modules in sequence.
6. Execute the agreements. Launch, read, and select I Agree on the Individual Marketplace General Agreement and the Individual Marketplace Privacy and Security Agreement. Add the SHOP Privacy and Security Agreement if you work with SHOP. The MLMS will not let you sign until the profile, identity proofing, training, and exam are done.
7. Confirm completion. Print the certificate from Your Transcript, then check your NPN on the Registration Completion List or the Registration Tracker. The certificate shows your name, NPN, market segment, plan year, and completion date.

The NPN field deserves a second look. CMS's guide says an inaccurate individual NPN, or an individual NPN copied into the business field, can lead an issuer to deny compensation or credit. For an agency, have each producer complete their own steps and send you the certificate; one authorized representative per entity handles the business NPN.

What happens if you certify late or miss it

CMS's returning-agent webinar states that agents cannot enroll consumers in Marketplace coverage or be compensated until every registration step is done, and it instructs issuers to confirm status on the Registration Completion List rather than a certificate. Until your NPN is on that list for 2027, an enrollment you help with will not earn credit.

There is no registration deadline. If you finish after November 1, you can assist for the rest of Open Enrollment and, per CMS's Open Enrollment page, help consumers year-round with application and enrollment updates, including special enrollment periods. Registration is per plan year, so a 2027 completion carries you through the 2027 coverage year.

The plan year closes when CMS takes the MLMS offline for the next cycle. For 2025 that happened on July 11, 2025, and CMS's notice said 2025 certificates would no longer be available. CMS's 2017-cycle MLMS FAQ describes the consequence: once a plan year's registration closes, an agent who never completed it cannot assist consumers for the remainder of that coverage year, and the agreements expire the day before the next Open Enrollment. Missing 2026 has one more cost: it puts you on the full 2027 curriculum, which CMS had not released as of September 22, 2026, instead of the one-hour returning course.

NPN validation is the other way to lose access mid-year. CMS checks each registered NPN against NIPR weekly for an active state license with an active health line of authority in the resident state. Agents without one lose access to Marketplace systems for the plan year. CMS lists eight states as examples of those that require a carrier appointment before the NPN validates: Florida, Hawaii, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The CMS line-of-authority table is the authority for each state's rule. For an agency this is the part you can see before CMS does. InsureTrek tracks license status by state and line of authority for every producer, so a lapsed resident license surfaces before it becomes an RCL problem.

FFM vs AHIP vs carrier certification

None of the three substitutes for another. CMS does not accept AHIP for Marketplace registration, and Medicare carriers do not accept FFM completion for Medicare training.

For ACA plans, the sequence is registration first, then whatever contracting and appointment steps each issuer requires; issuers confirm your registration on the RCL and handle the rest themselves. For Medicare, the AHIP guide explains which course each carrier accepts and how product certification and contracting follow.

If you sell both, the Medicare work comes first on the calendar. AEP opens October 15 and carriers set certification dates ahead of it, while FFM registration needs to be done before November 1. The Medicare AEP calendar puts the two windows side by side.

If your NPN is missing from the list

If your NPN is missing, check the profile, the agreements, and the plan year before repeating any training, then contact the right help desk.

These contacts come from the HealthCare.gov quick-start guide. Give support the plan year, the step you were on, and the exact error or mismatch.

After registration

Help On Demand has its own enrollment, and completing registration is the eligibility step for it. If you also sell Medicare plans, keep the Medicare AEP calendar beside your Marketplace calendar. The enrollment windows overlap, and the training records, agreements, and completion checks stay separate.