D44.6 — Neoplasm of uncertain behavior of carotid body
D44.6 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for neoplasm of uncertain behavior of carotid body. It is valid for submission on a claim.
Risk adjustment
D44.6 risk-adjusts. Under the CMS-HCC V28 model it maps to this category:
- HCC 23 Prostate, Breast, and Other Cancers and Tumors0.186 RAF
Coefficient shown for the Community Non-dual Aged segment. A higher HCC in the same hierarchy will suppress this one, so capturing it does not always add score.
Medicare coverage
D44.6 is named in 25 Medicare coverage policies — 25 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which of them applies to you depends on your Medicare contractor, and coverage genuinely differs by state.
- A52480Oral Antiemetic Drugs (Replacement for Intravenous Antiemetics) - Policy Article
- A52992Billing and Coding: Non-Invasive Cerebrovascular Arterial Studies
- A56462Billing and Coding: Erythropoiesis Stimulating Agents (ESA)
- A56580Billing and Coding: Computerized Axial Tomography (CT), Thorax
How D44.6 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 D44.6.
- Paraganglioma›carotid body
- Tumor›carotid body
Related codes at this level
Codes that share D44. If D44.6 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.
- D44.0Neoplasm of uncertain behavior of thyroid gland
- D44.1Neoplasm of uncertain behavior of adrenal gland
- D44.2Neoplasm of uncertain behavior of parathyroid gland
- D44.3Neoplasm of uncertain behavior of pituitary gland
- D44.4Neoplasm of uncertain behavior of craniopharyngeal duct
- D44.5Neoplasm of uncertain behavior of pineal gland
- D44.7Neoplasm of uncertain behavior of aortic body and other paraganglia
- D44.9Neoplasm of uncertain behavior of unspecified endocrine gland
Questions about D44.6
- Is D44.6 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- Yes. D44.6 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
- Where does D44.6 sit in the tabular list?
- Neoplasms (C00-D49), in the block Neoplasms of uncertain behavior, polycythemia vera and myelodysplastic syndromes (D37-D48).