Updates to Global Maternity Billing Guidelines

Effective October 19, 2021, Blue Cross and Blue Shield North Carolina (Blue Cross NC) will provide reimbursement for maternity-related services according to the criteria outlined in the revised Global Maternity Reimbursement policy (PDF). The global obstetrical professional package includes all services (antepartum care, delivery, and postpartum care) normally provided within routine maternity care. This policy applies only to professional maternity services. For facility maternity services, visit the Provider Blue Book.

Global Maternity Service Codes

Global maternity service codes should be filed when the same physician and/or other qualified health care professional or the same practice performs all the prenatal, delivery, and post-partum services during the global period. Global maternity codes are reported for all routes of delivery. See the Billing and Coding section of the policy for complete listing.

There are several circumstances when performing prenatal, delivery, and postpartum services does not result in global billing. In these situations, the maternity services may be separately billable with individual maternity service codes. The most common scenarios occur:

• When more than one practice performs maternity services during the global period
• When more than one payer provides maternity benefits during the global period
• When prenatal care is initiated late
• When the pregnancy ends early

For full details, tables and guidelines on reporting and reimbursement for global maternity, please see the revised policy for Global Maternity Reimbursement (PDF).

Please be advised: The existing maternity quick billing guide will be retired on the policy effective date, as we’ll want the policy to stand as a single source of truth.