D49.9 — Neoplasm of unspecified behavior of unspecified site
D49.9 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for neoplasm of unspecified behavior of unspecified site. It is valid for submission on a claim.
Risk adjustment
D49.9 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
D49.9 is named in 10 Medicare coverage policies — 10 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which of them applies to you depends on your Medicare contractor, and coverage genuinely differs by state.
- A52450Billing and Coding: Paclitaxel (e.g., Taxol®/Abraxane ™)
- A52986Billing and Coding: Biomarkers for Oncology
- A53101Billing and Coding: MolDX: bioTheranostics Cancer TYPE ID® Update
- A54188Billing and Coding: MolDX: bioTheranostics Cancer TYPE ID®
How D49.9 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 D49.9.
- Dermatomyositis›in neoplastic disease(due to)
- Dermatopolymyositis›in neoplastic disease
- Neuromyopathy›paraneoplastic(see also, Neoplasm, by site, if known)
- Neuropathy, neuropathic›paraneoplastic(sensorial) (Denny Brown) (see also, Neoplasm, by site, if known)
- Arthropathy›in›neoplastic disease NOS(see also Neoplasm)
- Encephalopathy›in›neoplastic disease(see also Neoplasm)
- Myelopathy›in›neoplastic disease
- Polyneuropathy›in›neoplastic disease
- Ataxia, ataxy, ataxic›cerebellar›in›neoplastic disease
- Atrophy, atrophic›systemic affecting central nervous system›in›neoplastic disease
- Compression›nerve›root or plexus NOS›neoplastic disease
- Myasthenia›syndrome›in›neoplastic disease
Related codes at this level
Codes that share D49. If D49.9 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.
- D49.0Neoplasm of unspecified behavior of digestive system
- D49.1Neoplasm of unspecified behavior of respiratory system
- D49.2Neoplasm of unspecified behavior of bone, soft tissue, and skin
- D49.3Neoplasm of unspecified behavior of breast
- D49.4Neoplasm of unspecified behavior of bladder
- D49.5Neoplasm of unspecified behavior of other genitourinary organs
- D49.6Neoplasm of unspecified behavior of brain
- D49.7Neoplasm of unspecified behavior of endocrine glands and other parts of nervous system
- D49.8Neoplasm of unspecified behavior of other specified sites
Questions about D49.9
- Is D49.9 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- Yes. D49.9 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
- Where does D49.9 sit in the tabular list?
- Neoplasms (C00-D49), in the block Neoplasms of unspecified behavior (D49).