H17.9 — Unspecified corneal scar and opacity
H17.9 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for unspecified corneal scar and opacity. It is valid for submission on a claim.
Risk adjustment
H17.9 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
H17.9 is named in 6 Medicare coverage policies — 6 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which of them applies to you depends on your Medicare contractor, and coverage genuinely differs by state.
- A56537Billing and Coding: Scanning Computerized Ophthalmic Diagnostic Imaging (SCODI)
- A56816Billing and Coding: Computerized Corneal Topography
- A56825Billing and Coding: Scanning Computerized Ophthalmic Diagnostic Imaging (SCODI)
- A57068Billing and Coding: Ocular Photography - External
How H17.9 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 H17.9.
- Cicatrix›cornea
- Scar, scarring›cornea
Related codes at this level
Codes that share H17. If H17.9 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.
Questions about H17.9
- Is H17.9 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- Yes. H17.9 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
- Where does H17.9 sit in the tabular list?
- Diseases of the eye and adnexa (H00-H59), in the block Disorders of sclera, cornea, iris and ciliary body (H15-H22).