MCMCB Pro
J05.0

J05.0Acute obstructive laryngitis [croup]

Billable / specific codeICD-10-CM

J05.0 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for acute obstructive laryngitis [croup]. It is valid for submission on a claim.

Inclusion terms

Alternative wordings a physician may use in the chart for this same code.

  • Obstructive laryngitis (acute) NOS
  • Obstructive laryngotracheitis NOS

Other codes that can never be billed with J05.0

These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at J05.0. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading J05.0 alone.

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

Risk adjustment

J05.0 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

J05.0 is named in 14 Medicare coverage policies 14 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
  • A56717Billing and Coding: Respiratory Therapy (Respiratory Care)
  • A56730Billing and Coding: Respiratory Therapy and Oximetry Services
  • A57205Billing and Coding: Oximetry Services

How J05.0 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 J05.0.

  • Croup, croupous(catarrhal) (infectious) (inflammatory) (nondiphtheritic)
  • Anginacroupous
  • Anginamembranous
  • Anginatrachealis
  • Laryngitisobstructive
  • Laryngitisspasmodic
  • Laryngitisstridulous
  • Syndromecroup
  • Laryngotracheitisspasmodicacute

Related codes at this level

Codes that share J05. If J05.0 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.

Questions about J05.0

Is J05.0 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
Yes. J05.0 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
Where does J05.0 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.