CPT code 59610: VBAC care, complete care through postpartum2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $2,330.71 for 59610 nationally in a facility.

Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.

What 59610 covers

This code represents complete maternity care for a patient with a previous cesarean who attempts labor and delivers vaginally. The package includes antepartum care, the vaginal delivery, and postpartum care. Obstetricians and other qualified maternity clinicians typically provide the care, with the delivery occurring in a hospital or birth center. The defining clinical distinction is a successful vaginal birth after cesarean, rather than a repeat cesarean delivery.

Select this code when the reporting clinician or group provides the complete course of care represented by the package. The record should support the prior cesarean, prenatal care, labor and vaginal delivery, and postpartum care. CMS classifies this as a maternity code, so the usual surgical global-period rules do not apply; the maternity services are described by the obstetric code itself. If multiple procedures are performed in the same session, CMS pays the highest-valued procedure in full and reduces the others to 50%.

This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS physician fee schedule data and checked against the CMS billing rules shown here. Rates on this page come directly from CMS files.

Where 59610 pays more and less

The same RVUs, adjusted for each area’s costs. Open a locality for its calculation, history and nearby areas.

109 of 109 payment localities

59610 rates by state

Office rate range in each state. Select a state to see its payment localities.

How the 59610 rate is calculated

Each of 59610’s three RVUs is multiplied by a geographic index (GPCI) for the payment locality, added up, and multiplied by the conversion factor. Drag the indexes or enter a ZIP to see what moves the rate.

Payment rules and modifiers for 59610

The CMS indicators that decide how 59610 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 51

59610 compared with similar codes

How to choose

59612VBAC deliveryDelivery only

This code includes antepartum and postpartum care with the VBAC delivery. 59612 is limited to the delivery service.

59614VBAC deliveryIncludes postpartum care

This code includes antepartum care as well as delivery and postpartum care. 59614 covers delivery with postpartum care, without the complete antepartum package.

59618Attempted VBACComplete care, cesarean outcome

Use this code for complete maternity care ending in vaginal delivery after a prior cesarean. 59618 describes an attempted VBAC that ends in cesarean delivery.

59400Maternity careAntepartum, delivery, postpartum

Both represent complete maternity care ending in vaginal delivery, but this code is for a patient with a prior cesarean; 59400 is for routine obstetric care without that history.

Codes related to 59610

Related codes aren’t interchangeable: bill the code that matches the service performed.

Where these rates come from

FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indexes and the conversion factor. Services without a published rate are labeled, never given a made-up amount. Amounts are Medicare allowed amounts before claim adjustments: not a patient’s bill or a commercial rate.

CMS RVU26D · effective Oct 1, 2026 through the day before Jan 1, 2027

Open CMS sourceHow we calculate rates