J44.1: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with (acute) exacerbation
J44.1 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with (acute) exacerbation. It is valid for submission on a claim.
Check J44.1 with the rest of the claim: free scrubberExcludes2: 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.
Inclusion terms
Alternative wordings a physician may use in the chart for this same code.
- Decompensated COPD
- Decompensated COPD with (acute) exacerbation
Excludes2 inherited from the categories above J44.1
Not part of this code, but both may be coded when both are present.
Other codes that can never be billed with J44.1
Their own Excludes1 notes name this code, so the conflict is not listed above.
- J42Unspecified chronic bronchitis
Risk adjustment
J44.1 risk-adjusts. Under the CMS-HCC V28 model it maps to this category:
- HCC 280 Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Interstitial Lung Disorders, and Other Chronic Lung Disorders0.319 RAF
Coefficient shown for the Community Non-dual Aged segment. A higher HCC in the same hierarchy will suppress this one, so capturing it does not always add score. Look up the whole chart to see which of its HCCs the hierarchy would zero.
Medicare coverage
J44.1 is named in 27 Medicare coverage policies: 25 listing it as supporting medical necessity, and 2 listing it as NOT covered. Which one applies depends on your Medicare contractor.
- A56566Billing and Coding: Outpatient Physical and Occupational Therapy Servicesnot covered
- A57067Billing and Coding: Outpatient Physical and Occupational Therapy Servicesnot covered
- A52466Nebulizers - Policy Article
- A53057Billing and Coding: Home Health Occupational Therapy
Alphabetic index entries that lead here
- Asthma, asthmatic›chronic obstructive›with›exacerbation(acute)
- Disease, diseased›lung›obstructive›decompensated
- Disease, diseased›pulmonary›chronic obstructive›decompensated
- Asthma, asthmatic›with›chronic obstructive bronchitis›with›exacerbation(acute)
- Asthma, asthmatic›with›chronic obstructive pulmonary disease›with›exacerbation(acute)
- Bronchitis›asthmatic›chronic›with›exacerbation(acute)
- Disease, diseased›pulmonary›chronic obstructive›with›exacerbation(acute)
- Disease, diseased›lung›obstructive›decompensated›with›exacerbation(acute)
- Disease, diseased›lung›obstructive›with›acute›exacerbation NEC
- Disease, diseased›pulmonary›chronic obstructive›decompensated›with›exacerbation(acute)
- Disease, diseased›lung›obstructive›with›bronchitis›with›exacerbation(acute)
The condition this code belongs to
Code history
Unchanged in every release from FY2024 to FY2027.