Effective January 1, 2027
By Oksana Pokoyeva, COC, CPC, CPCO, CPC-P, CPMA, CUC; Billing Department
The AMA CPT Editorial Panel has approved the most significant restructuring of obstetric coding in decades. The changes affect all obstetrics, family medicine, and midwifery practices. In total, 17 codes are deleted, 12 new codes are added, and 6 codes are revised.
The core shift: the existing “global” bundled model — where one code covered the entire pregnancy — is replaced by granular, phase-by-phase reporting across four distinct stages of care.
The Fundamental Change: Global → Phase-Based
| Before (through Dec 31, 2026) | After (from Jan 1, 2027) |
| 59400 — Vaginal delivery + full antepartum + postpartum | Antepartum → E/M codes by site of service |
| 59510 — C-section + full antepartum + postpartum | Labor Management → 59080–59083 (new) |
| 59610 — VBAC + full antepartum + postpartum | Delivery → 59431–59504 (new) |
| Postpartum → E/M codes by site of service |
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