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J05

J05Acute obstructive laryngitis [croup] and epiglottitis

Non-billable headerICD-10-CM

J05 is a non-billable header ICD-10-CM code for acute obstructive laryngitis [croup] and epiglottitis. It cannot be billed on its own: choose one of the more specific child codes below.

Use additional code

Add a secondary code to capture the detail described below.

  • code (B95-B97) to identify infectious agent.

Code also

Both codes may be needed to describe the encounter fully. Sequencing depends on the reason for the visit.

  • , influenza, if present, such as:
  • influenza due to identified novel influenza A virus with other respiratory manifestations (J09.X2)
  • influenza due to other identified influenza virus with other respiratory manifestations (J10.1)
  • influenza due to unidentified influenza virus with other respiratory manifestations (J11.1)

Other codes that can never be billed with J05

These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at J05. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading J05 alone.

  • J04Acute laryngitis and tracheitis
  • J04.0Acute laryngitis
  • J04.2Acute laryngotracheitis
  • J38Diseases of vocal cords and larynx, not elsewhere classified
  • J38.4Edema of larynx

Risk adjustment

J05 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.

Code to one of these instead J05

2 child codes. Green means billable.

Questions about J05

Is J05 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
No. J05 is a non-billable header code. Code to a higher level of specificity using one of its child codes.
Where does J05 sit in the tabular list?
Diseases of the respiratory system (J00-J99), in the block Acute upper respiratory infections (J00-J06).
ICD-10-CMFY2026-Apr· effective April 1, 2026

Loaded directly from the CMS/NCHS ICD-10-CM public-domain release — see data sources and our editorial policy. If this page disagrees with the CMS tabular list, this page is wrong. Reference information for professional coders; not medical or billing advice.