Home › CPT Codes › CPT 59515

CPT 59515 — Cesarean delivery

CPT code 59515 (Cesarean delivery) carries 22.79 work RVUs under the CMS 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. Total RVUs are 36.67 in a non-facility setting and 36.67 in a facility setting, which at the 2026 conversion factor of $33.40 works out to $1,224.81 and $1,224.81 respectively.

22.79
Work RVU
36.67
Total RVU (non-facility)
$1,224.81
Medicare, non-facility
$1,224.81
Medicare, facility
Calculate your total wRVUs →

RVU breakdown for CPT 59515

ComponentRVUsWhat it covers
Work RVU22.79Physician time, skill, effort, and stress.
Practice expense RVU (non-facility)6.62Office overhead, staff, supplies.
Practice expense RVU (facility)0.0Overhead when performed in a hospital.
Malpractice RVU7.26Professional liability cost.
Total RVU (non-facility)36.67Work + non-facility PE + malpractice.
Total RVU (facility)36.67Work + facility PE + malpractice.

How Medicare payment is calculated

Medicare multiplies total RVUs by the annual conversion factor. For CPT 59515 in 2026:

SettingTotal RVUConversion factorNational payment
Non-facility36.67$33.40$1,224.81
Facility36.67$33.40$1,224.81

These are national amounts. Actual payment is adjusted by the Geographic Practice Cost Index for your locality — check yours with the GPCI lookup.

Billing rules for CPT 59515

Global period
Maternity code — the usual global surgical package does not apply.
Multiple procedure reduction
Subject to the standard multiple-procedure reduction (100%/50%/50%…).
Bilateral surgery
Bilateral adjustment does not apply.
Assistant surgeon
Not permitted.
Co-surgeon
Not permitted unless documentation supports medical necessity.
Team surgery
Not permitted unless documentation supports medical necessity.

Related codes

Codes in the same CMS family, with their work RVU values.

59510 · 41.05 wRVU59514 · 16.13 wRVU

Questions about CPT 59515

How many work RVUs is CPT 59515?

CPT 59515 is assigned 22.79 work RVUs in the CMS 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.

What does Medicare pay for CPT 59515?

At the 2026 national conversion factor of $33.40, CPT 59515 pays approximately $1,224.81 in a non-facility setting and $1,224.81 in a facility setting before geographic adjustment.

What is the global period for CPT 59515?

Maternity code — the usual global surgical package does not apply.

RVU values reflect the CMS 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (conversion factor $33.40). Payment figures are national and unadjusted for geography. Verify against the official fee schedule before using for billing.