Is Z55.6 a billable ICD-10-CM code?

Yes. Z55.6 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.

Where does Z55.6 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).

What cannot be coded together with Z55.6?

Z55.6 carries Excludes1 notes, which means the conditions they list can never be coded together with it on the same encounter. Some are written on the categories above Z55.6 (Z55) and apply to it just the same.

Z55.6

Z55.6 — Problems related to health literacy

Billable / specific codeICD-10-CMPOA exempt

Z55.6 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for problems related to health literacy. It is valid for submission on a claim.

Inclusion terms

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

Difficulty understanding health related information
Difficulty understanding medication instructions
Problem completing medical forms

Excludes1 inherited from the categories above Z55.6

These are not written on Z55.6, but they bind it: a note on a category applies to every code beneath it. Billing Z55.6 with anything listed here is a denial.

Written on Z55 — Problems related to education and literacy

disorders of psychological development (F80-F89)

Risk adjustment

Z55.6 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 Z55.6 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 Z55.6.

Illiteracy›health
Problem›completing medical forms
Problem›health literacy
Difficult, difficulty›understanding›health related information
Difficult, difficulty›understanding›medication instructions

Code history

Z55.6 has not changed since FY2024 — no addition, revision or deletion across the three most recent ICD-10-CM releases.

Related codes at this level

Codes that share Z55. If Z55.6 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.

Questions about Z55.6

Is Z55.6 a billable ICD-10-CM code?: Yes. Z55.6 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
Where does Z55.6 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).
What cannot be coded together with Z55.6?: Z55.6 carries Excludes1 notes, which means the conditions they list can never be coded together with it on the same encounter. Some are written on the categories above Z55.6 (Z55) and apply to it just the same.