F33.9 — Major depressive disorder, recurrent, unspecified
F33.9 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for major depressive disorder, recurrent, unspecified. It is valid for submission on a claim.
Inclusion terms
Alternative wordings a physician may use in the chart for this same code.
- Monopolar depression NOS
Excludes1 inherited from the categories above F33.9
These are not written on F33.9, but they bind it: a note on a category applies to every code beneath it. Billing F33.9 with anything listed here is a denial.
Other codes that can never be billed with F33.9
These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at F33.9. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading F33.9 alone.
Risk adjustment
F33.9 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
F33.9 is named in 22 Medicare coverage policies — 21 listing it as supporting medical necessity, and 1 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
- A56645Billing and Coding: Controlled Substance Monitoring and Drugs of Abuse Testing
- A56818Billing and Coding: Urine Drug Testing
- A56937Billing and Coding: Psychiatry and Psychology Services
How F33.9 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 F33.9.
- Depression›monopolar
- Melancholia›recurrent
- Disorder›depressive›recurrent
- Episode›depressive›recurrent
- Involution, involutional›depression›recurrent episode
- Disorder›depressive›major›recurrent
- Menopause, menopausal›depression›agitated›recurrent episode
- Menopause, menopausal›depression›psychotic›recurrent episode
- Reaction›depressive›affective›recurrent episode
The condition this code belongs to
Every code for the condition on one page, which one applies when, and the mistake coders make with it.
Code history
F33.9 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 F33. If F33.9 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.
- F33.0Major depressive disorder, recurrent, mild
- F33.1Major depressive disorder, recurrent, moderate
- F33.2Major depressive disorder, recurrent severe without psychotic features
- F33.3Major depressive disorder, recurrent, severe with psychotic symptoms
- F33.4Major depressive disorder, recurrent, in remission
- F33.8Other recurrent depressive disorders
Questions about F33.9
- Is F33.9 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- Yes. F33.9 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
- Where does F33.9 sit in the tabular list?
- Mental, Behavioral and Neurodevelopmental disorders (F01-F99), in the block Mood [affective] disorders (F30-F39).
- What cannot be coded together with F33.9?
- F33.9 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 F33.9 (F33) and apply to it just the same.