J04.0 — Acute laryngitis
J04.0 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for acute laryngitis. 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.
- acute obstructive laryngitis (J05.0)
Excludes2 — not included here, but may coexist
The excluded condition is not part of this code, but a patient can have both. You may code both.
- chronic laryngitis (J37.0)
Inclusion terms
Alternative wordings a physician may use in the chart for this same code.
- Edematous laryngitis (acute)
- Laryngitis (acute) NOS
- Subglottic laryngitis (acute)
- Suppurative laryngitis (acute)
- Ulcerative laryngitis (acute)
Other codes that can never be billed with J04.0
These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at J04.0. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading J04.0 alone.
Risk adjustment
J04.0 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
J04.0 is named in 7 Medicare coverage policies — 7 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
- A57205Billing and Coding: Oximetry Services
- A57473Billing and Coding: Allergy Testing
- A57473Billing and Coding: Allergy Testing
How J04.0 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 J04.0.
- Glottitis
- Laryngitis(acute) (edematous) (fibrinous) (infective) (infiltrative) (malignant) (membranous) (phlegmonous) (pneumococcal) (pseudomembranous) (septic) (subglottic) (suppurative) (ulcerative)
- Gangrene, gangrenous›laryngitis
- Laryngitis›H. influenzae
- Laryngitis›Hemophilus influenzae
- Laryngitis›streptococcal
- Laryngitis›spasmodic›acute
Related codes at this level
Codes that share J04. If J04.0 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.
Questions about J04.0
- Is J04.0 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- Yes. J04.0 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
- Where does J04.0 sit in the tabular list?
- Diseases of the respiratory system (J00-J99), in the block Acute upper respiratory infections (J00-J06).
- What cannot be coded together with J04.0?
- J04.0 carries an Excludes1 note, which means the conditions it lists can never be coded together with it on the same encounter.