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J12.81

J12.81: Pneumonia due to SARS-associated coronavirus

Billable / specific codeICD-10-CM

J12.81 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for pneumonia due to sars-associated coronavirus. It is valid for submission on a claim.

Check J12.81 with the rest of the claim: free scrubber

Inclusion terms

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

  • Severe acute respiratory syndrome NOS

Excludes2 inherited from the categories above J12.81

Not part of this code, but both may be coded when both are present.

Written on J12: Viral pneumonia, not elsewhere classified

  • aspiration pneumonia due to anesthesia during labor and delivery (O74.0)
  • aspiration pneumonia due to anesthesia during pregnancy (O29)
  • aspiration pneumonia due to anesthesia during puerperium (O89.0)
  • aspiration pneumonia due to solids and liquids (J69.-)
  • aspiration pneumonia NOS (J69.0)
  • congenital pneumonia (P23.0)
  • congenital rubella pneumonitis (P35.0)
  • interstitial pneumonia NOS (J84.9)
  • lipid pneumonia (J69.1)
  • neonatal aspiration pneumonia (P24.-)

Other codes that can never be billed with J12.81

Their own Excludes1 notes name this code, so the conflict is not listed above.

  • B34.2Coronavirus infection, unspecified
  • B97.21SARS-associated coronavirus as the cause of diseases classified elsewhere

Risk adjustment

No CMS-HCC V28 category: this code does not change a RAF score.

Medicare coverage

J12.81 is named in 11 Medicare coverage policies: 11 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which one applies depends on your Medicare contractor.

  • A52466Nebulizers - Policy Article
  • A56580Billing and Coding: Computerized Axial Tomography (CT), Thorax
  • A56730Billing and Coding: Respiratory Therapy and Oximetry Services
  • A57205Billing and Coding: Oximetry Services

Alphabetic index entries that lead here

  • Pneumonia›SARS-associated coronavirus
  • Syndrome›severe acute respiratory(SARS)
  • Pneumonia›viral, virus›SARS-associated coronavirus

The condition this code belongs to

Code history

Unchanged in every release from FY2024 to FY2027.

Other codes under J12.8

ICD-10-CMFY2027· effective October 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.