Is F17.220 a billable ICD-10-CM code?

Yes. F17.220 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.

Where does F17.220 sit in the tabular list?

Mental, Behavioral and Neurodevelopmental disorders (F01-F99), in the block Mental and behavioral disorders due to psychoactive substance use (F10-F19).

What cannot be coded together with F17.220?

F17.220 carries Excludes1 notes, which means the conditions they list can never be coded together with it on the same encounter. Some are written on the categories above F17.220 (F17) and apply to it just the same.

F17.220

F17.220 — Nicotine dependence, chewing tobacco, uncomplicated

Billable / specific codeICD-10-CM

F17.220 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for nicotine dependence, chewing tobacco, uncomplicated. It is valid for submission on a claim.

Excludes1 inherited from the categories above F17.220

These are not written on F17.220, but they bind it: a note on a category applies to every code beneath it. Billing F17.220 with anything listed here is a denial.

Written on F17 — Nicotine dependence

history of tobacco dependence (Z87.891)
tobacco use NOS (Z72.0)

Excludes2 inherited from the categories above F17.220

Also inherited, and the opposite of Excludes1: these conditions are not part of F17.220, but a patient can have both, so you may code both.

Written on F17 — Nicotine dependence

tobacco use (smoking) during pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (O99.33-)
toxic effect of nicotine (T65.2-)

Other codes that can never be billed with F17.220

These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at F17.220. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading F17.220 alone.

Z77.22Contact with and (suspected) exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (acute) (chronic)

Risk adjustment

F17.220 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

F17.220 is named in 10 Medicare coverage policies — 6 listing it as supporting medical necessity, and 4 listing it as NOT covered. Which of them applies to you depends on your Medicare contractor, and coverage genuinely differs by state.

A52434Health and Behavior Assessment/Intervention – Medical Policy Articlenot covered
A56562Billing and Coding: Health and Behavior Assessment/Interventionnot covered
A56865Billing and Coding: Psychiatric Inpatient Hospitalizationnot covered
A59718Billing and Coding: Opioid Treatment Programsnot covered

How F17.220 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 F17.220.

Dependence›drug NEC›nicotine›chewing tobacco

Code history

F17.220 has not changed since FY2024 — no addition, revision or deletion across the three most recent ICD-10-CM releases.

Related codes at this level

Codes that share F17.22. If F17.220 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.

Questions about F17.220

Is F17.220 a billable ICD-10-CM code?: Yes. F17.220 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
Where does F17.220 sit in the tabular list?: Mental, Behavioral and Neurodevelopmental disorders (F01-F99), in the block Mental and behavioral disorders due to psychoactive substance use (F10-F19).
What cannot be coded together with F17.220?: F17.220 carries Excludes1 notes, which means the conditions they list can never be coded together with it on the same encounter. Some are written on the categories above F17.220 (F17) and apply to it just the same.