G31.2 — Degeneration of nervous system due to alcohol
G31.2 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for degeneration of nervous system due to alcohol. It is valid for submission on a claim.
Code also
Both codes may be needed to describe the encounter fully. Sequencing depends on the reason for the visit.
- associated alcoholism (F10.-)
Inclusion terms
Alternative wordings a physician may use in the chart for this same code.
- Alcoholic cerebellar ataxia
- Alcoholic cerebellar degeneration
- Alcoholic cerebral degeneration
- Alcoholic encephalopathy
- Dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system due to alcohol
Other codes that can never be billed with G31.2
These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at G31.2. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading G31.2 alone.
Risk adjustment
G31.2 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
G31.2 is named in 5 Medicare coverage policies — 5 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which of them applies to you depends on your Medicare contractor, and coverage genuinely differs by state.
- A54111Billing and Coding: Speech Language Pathology (SLP) Services: Communication Disorders
- A56612Billing and Coding: CT of the Head
- A57204Billing and Coding: MRI and CT Scans of the Head and Neck
- A57780Billing and Coding: Psychological and Neuropsychological Tests
How G31.2 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 G31.2.
- Encephalopathy›alcoholic
- Ataxia, ataxy, ataxic›cerebellar›alcoholic
- Degeneration, degenerative›brain›alcoholic
- Degeneration, degenerative›cerebellar NOS›alcoholic
- Degeneration, degenerative›cortical›alcoholic
- Degeneration, degenerative›nervous system›alcoholic
- Dysfunction›autonomic›due to alcohol
- Ataxia, ataxy, ataxic›cerebellar›in›alcoholism
- Degeneration, degenerative›brain›in›alcoholism
Related codes at this level
Codes that share G31. If G31.2 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.
Questions about G31.2
- Is G31.2 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- Yes. G31.2 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
- Where does G31.2 sit in the tabular list?
- Diseases of the nervous system (G00-G99), in the block Other degenerative diseases of the nervous system (G30-G32).