K13.21

K13.21: Leukoplakia of oral mucosa, including tongue

Billable / specific codeICD-10-CM

K13.21 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for leukoplakia of oral mucosa, including tongue. It is valid for submission on a claim.

Check K13.21 with the rest of the claim: free scrubber

Excludes1: never code together

These conditions cannot occur together. Billing both on the same encounter is a denial.

hairy leukoplakia (K13.3)
leukokeratosis nicotina palati (K13.24)

Inclusion terms

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

Leukokeratosis of oral mucosa
Leukoplakia of gingiva, lips, tongue

Excludes1 inherited from the categories above K13.21

A category’s note binds every code beneath it.

Written on K13.2: Leukoplakia and other disturbances of oral epithelium, including tongue

carcinoma in situ of oral epithelium (D00.0-)
hairy leukoplakia (K13.3)

Excludes2 inherited from the categories above K13.21

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

Written on K13: Other diseases of lip and oral mucosa

certain disorders of gingiva and edentulous alveolar ridge (K05-K06)
cysts of oral region (K09.-)
diseases of tongue (K14.-)
stomatitis and related lesions (K12.-)

Risk adjustment

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

Medicare coverage

K13.21 is named in 3 Medicare coverage policies: 3 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which one applies depends on your Medicare contractor.

A54111Billing and Coding: Speech Language Pathology (SLP) Services: Communication Disorders
A57044Billing and Coding: Removal of Benign Skin Lesions
A57482Billing and Coding: Removal of Benign Skin Lesions

Alphabetic index entries that lead here

Leukokeratosis›mouth
Leukokeratosis›oral mucosa
Leukokeratosis›tongue
Leukoplakia›buccal
Leukoplakia›gingiva
Leukoplakia›lip
Leukoplakia›mouth
Leukoplakia›oral epithelium, including tongue(mucosa)
Leukoplakia›palate
Leukoplakia›tongue

Code history

Unchanged in every release from FY2024 to FY2027.