Z55.5
Z55.5 — Less than a high school diploma
Billable / specific codeICD-10-CMPOA exempt
Z55.5 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for less than a high school diploma. It is valid for submission on a claim.
Inclusion terms
Alternative wordings a physician may use in the chart for this same code.
- No general equivalence degree (GED)
Risk adjustment
Z55.5 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.
How Z55.5 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 Z55.5.
- Less than a high school diploma
- Educational handicap›less than a high school diploma
- Educational handicap›no general equivalence degree(GED)
- No›general equivalence degree(GED)
Related codes at this level
Codes that share Z55. If Z55.5 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.
- Z55.0Illiteracy and low-level literacy
- Z55.1Schooling unavailable and unattainable
- Z55.2Failed school examinations
- Z55.3Underachievement in school
- Z55.4Educational maladjustment and discord with teachers and classmates
- Z55.6Problems related to health literacy
- Z55.8Other problems related to education and literacy
- Z55.9Problems related to education and literacy, unspecified
Questions about Z55.5
- Is Z55.5 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- Yes. Z55.5 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
- Where does Z55.5 sit in the tabular list?
- Factors influencing health status and contact with health services (Z00-Z99), in the block Persons with potential health hazards related to socioeconomic and psychosocial circumstances (Z55-Z65).