F81.0 — Specific reading disorder
F81.0 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for specific reading disorder. 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.
Inclusion terms
Alternative wordings a physician may use in the chart for this same code.
- 'Backward reading'
- Developmental dyslexia
- Specific learning disorder, with impairment in reading
- Specific reading retardation
Other codes that can never be billed with F81.0
These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at F81.0. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading F81.0 alone.
- R48Dyslexia and other symbolic dysfunctions, not elsewhere classified
Risk adjustment
F81.0 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
F81.0 is named in 18 Medicare coverage policies — 16 listing it as supporting medical necessity, and 2 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
- A56865Billing and Coding: Psychiatric Inpatient Hospitalizationnot covered
- A52866Billing and Coding: Speech-Language Pathology
- A53052Billing and Coding: Home Health Speech-Language Pathology
How F81.0 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 F81.0.
- Backward reading(dyslexia)
- Mirror writing
- Strephosymbolia
- Alexia›developmental
- Blindness›word(developmental)
- Difficult, difficulty›reading(developmental)
- Dyslexia›developmental
- Retardation›reading(specific)
- Word›blindness(congenital) (developmental)
- Delay, delayed›development›reading
- Development›delayed›reading
- Disorder›developmental›reading
Code history
F81.0 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 F81. If F81.0 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.
Questions about F81.0
- Is F81.0 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- Yes. F81.0 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
- Where does F81.0 sit in the tabular list?
- Mental, Behavioral and Neurodevelopmental disorders (F01-F99), in the block Pervasive and specific developmental disorders (F80-F89).
- What cannot be coded together with F81.0?
- F81.0 carries Excludes1 notes, which means the conditions they list can never be coded together with it on the same encounter.