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J35.0

J35.0Chronic tonsillitis and adenoiditis

Non-billable headerICD-10-CM

J35.0 is a non-billable header ICD-10-CM code for chronic tonsillitis and adenoiditis. It cannot be billed on its own: choose one of the more specific child codes below.

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.

  • acute tonsillitis (J03.-)

Other codes that can never be billed with J35.0

These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at J35.0. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading J35.0 alone.

  • J35.1Hypertrophy of tonsils
  • J35.2Hypertrophy of adenoids
  • J35.3Hypertrophy of tonsils with hypertrophy of adenoids
  • J36Peritonsillar abscess

Risk adjustment

J35.0 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.

Code to one of these instead J35.0

3 child codes. Green means billable.

Related codes at this level

Codes that share J35. If J35.0 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.

Questions about J35.0

Is J35.0 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
No. J35.0 is a non-billable header code. Code to a higher level of specificity using one of its child codes.
Where does J35.0 sit in the tabular list?
Diseases of the respiratory system (J00-J99), in the block Other diseases of upper respiratory tract (J30-J39).
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.