A15.6 — Tuberculous pleurisy
A15.6 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for tuberculous pleurisy. It is valid for submission on a claim.
Excludes1 — never code together
These conditions cannot occur together. Billing both on the same encounter is a denial.
- primary respiratory tuberculosis (A15.7)
Inclusion terms
Alternative wordings a physician may use in the chart for this same code.
- Tuberculosis of pleura Tuberculous empyema
Other codes that can never be billed with A15.6
These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at A15.6. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading A15.6 alone.
Risk adjustment
A15.6 does not map to an HCC and does not risk-adjust under CMS-HCC V28. That is normal — most ICD-10 codes do not. It still needs to be coded correctly; it just will not move a RAF score.
Medicare coverage
A15.6 is named in 11 Medicare coverage policies — 11 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which of them applies to you depends on your Medicare contractor, and coverage genuinely differs by state.
- A56416Billing and Coding: Assays for Vitamins and Metabolic Function
- A56580Billing and Coding: Computerized Axial Tomography (CT), Thorax
- A56717Billing and Coding: Respiratory Therapy (Respiratory Care)
- A56841Billing and Coding: Vitamin D; 25 hydroxy, includes fraction(s), if performed
How A15.6 is indexed
Coders do not find codes by browsing the tabular list — they look them up in the alphabetic index, under the word the physician wrote. These are the index entries that lead here, so you can see which chart wordings map to A15.6.
- Empyema›tuberculous
- Hemothorax›tuberculous NEC
- Hydropneumothorax›tuberculous NEC
- Hydrothorax›tuberculous NEC(non primary)
- Pleurisy›tuberculous(with effusion) (non primary)
- Pyopneumothorax›tuberculous NEC
- Pyothorax›tuberculous NEC
- Tuberculosis, tubercular, tuberculous›bronchopleural
- Tuberculosis, tubercular, tuberculous›empyema
- Tuberculosis, tubercular, tuberculous›hemothorax
- Tuberculosis, tubercular, tuberculous›hydropneumothorax
- Tuberculosis, tubercular, tuberculous›hydrothorax
Related codes at this level
Codes that share A15. If A15.6 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.
Questions about A15.6
- Is A15.6 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- Yes. A15.6 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
- Where does A15.6 sit in the tabular list?
- Certain infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99), in the block Tuberculosis (A15-A19).
- What cannot be coded together with A15.6?
- A15.6 carries an Excludes1 note, which means the conditions it lists can never be coded together with it on the same encounter.