2027 ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code J44.9Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, unspecified
ICD-10-CM Codes›J00–J99›J40-J4B›J44
- Billable — Valid for Submission
- Risk Adjusts — HCC 280
- Chronic Condition
J44.9 is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, unspecified. It is valid on HIPAA claims for fiscal year 2027 (October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027) and groups to MS-DRG 190 through 192. In AHRQ's Clinical Classifications Software (CCSR), this diagnosis falls under Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchiectasis.
For Medicare Advantage risk adjustment, J44.9 maps to CMS-HCC Category 280 (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Interstitial Lung Disorders, and Other Chronic Lung Disorders) under the V28 model, adding a risk factor of about 0.319 for a community, non-dual, aged beneficiary in payment year 2027.
Code Identity
Code Classification
Medicare Risk Adjustment (HCC)Billing
J44.9 maps to a payment category in the CMS-HCC model used to risk-adjust Medicare Advantage payments. Weights are the published community factors for payment year 2027.
Source: CMS Payment Year 2027 risk adjustment mappings and model software. Weights are relative factors, not dollar amounts; a beneficiary's total RAF also includes demographics and interactions. Browse all CMS-HCC categories.
Approximate SynonymsGuidance
Alternate terms and clinical phrases that map to this code.
- Airways obstruction irreversible
- Asthma with irreversible airway obstruction
- Asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap syndrome
- Asthmatic bronchitis
- Bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome following allogeneic stem cell transplant
- Chronic asthmatic bronchitis
- Chronic bronchiolitis
- Chronic graft-versus-host disease
- Chronic obliterative bronchiolitis
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease monitoring due
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease of unknown cause
- Emphysematous bronchitis
- End stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Finding of respiratory obstruction
- GOLD Classification severity grade 1 mild disease
- GOLD Classification severity grade 2 moderate disease
- GOLD Classification severity grade 3 severe disease
- GOLD Classification severity grade 4 very severe disease
- Mild chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Obstruction of bronchus
- Pulmonary hypertension due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Pulmonary hypertension due to lung disease and/or hypoxia
- Severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Subacute obliterative bronchiolitis
Instructional NotesGuidance
Instructions from the official ICD-10-CM Tabular List that apply to J44.9: its own notes plus those printed at J44, block J40-J4B, and Chapter 10. A note printed at a category, block or chapter applies to every code under it.
Includes
Further defines, or gives examples of, the content of the category.
- asthma with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- chronic asthmatic (obstructive) bronchitis
- chronic bronchitis with airway obstruction
- chronic bronchitis with emphysema
- chronic emphysematous bronchitis
- chronic obstructive asthma
- chronic obstructive bronchitis
- chronic obstructive tracheobronchitis
Applicable To
Conditions this code is used for: synonyms of the title or, for "other specified" codes, the conditions assigned to it. The list is not exhaustive.
- Chronic obstructive airway disease NOS
- Chronic obstructive lung disease NOS
Excludes1
Not coded here: the excluded code is never reported together with this one, unless the two conditions are unrelated.
- bronchitis due to chemicals, gases, fumes and vapors (J68.0)
Excludes2
Not included here: the excluded condition is not part of this code, but a patient may have both, so both codes may be reported.
- cystic fibrosis (E84.-)
- certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (P04-P96)
- certain infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99)
- complications of pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (O00-O9A)
- congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99)
- endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (E00-E88)
- injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (S00-T88)
- neoplasms (C00-D49)
- smoke inhalation (T59.81-)
- symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R94)
Code Also
A second code may be needed to fully describe the condition; the note gives no sequencing direction.
Notes
General instructions on how these codes are used.
- When a respiratory condition is described as occurring in more than one site and is not specifically indexed, it should be classified to the lower anatomic site (e.g. tracheobronchitis to bronchitis in J40).
Source: CMS ICD-10-CM Tabular List. How to read instructional notes.
Referenced in Other NotesGuidance
Instructional notes printed at other codes that name J44.9, its category, or a range that includes it.
Applicable To 1
These notes mention J44.9.
- Z82.5 Family history of asthma and other chronic lower respiratory diseases
Excludes1 4
These codes carry an Excludes1 note naming J44.9: they are not reported together with it, unless the two conditions are unrelated.
- J42 Unspecified chronic bronchitischronic obstructive pulmonary disease NOS (J44.9)
- J42 Unspecified chronic bronchitischronic asthmatic bronchitis (J44.-) names J44.-, which includes this code
- J42 Unspecified chronic bronchitischronic bronchitis with airways obstruction (J44.-) names J44.-, which includes this code
- J42 Unspecified chronic bronchitischronic emphysematous bronchitis (J44.-) names J44.-, which includes this code
Excludes2 5
These codes carry an Excludes2 note naming J44.9: its condition is not part of those codes, and both may be reported when the patient has both.
- J20 Acute bronchitischronic obstructive bronchitis (J44.-) names J44.-, which includes this code
- J20 Acute bronchitischronic obstructive tracheobronchitis (J44.-) names J44.-, which includes this code
- J41 Simple and mucopurulent chronic bronchitischronic obstructive bronchitis (J44.-) names J44.-, which includes this code
- J43 Emphysemaemphysema with chronic (obstructive) bronchitis (J44.-) names J44.-, which includes this code
- J43 Emphysemaemphysematous (obstructive) bronchitis (J44.-) names J44.-, which includes this code
Code First 1
These codes say to code first a condition named in the note, and J44.9 is one of the conditions named.
Index to Diseases and InjuriesGuidance
Alphabetical index entries that point to this code.
Disease, diseased See Also: Syndrome;
obstructive, chronic J44.9
obstructive (chronic) J44.9
pulmonary See Also: Disease, lung;
chronic obstructive J44.9
Obstruction, obstructed, obstructive
chronic J44.9
disease, chronic J44.9
chronic J44.9
Clinical ClassificationClinical
AHRQ’s CCSR groups this code into broader clinical categories.
Clinical InformationClinical
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive
a disease of chronic diffuse irreversible airflow obstruction. subcategories of copd include chronic bronchitis and pulmonary emphysema.
Patient EducationClinical
COPD
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is a group of lung diseases that make it hard to breathe and get worse over time.
The full article covers:
- What is COPD?
- What are the types of COPD?
- What causes COPD?
- Who is more likely to develop COPD?
- What are the symptoms of COPD?
- How is COPD diagnosed?
- What are the treatments for COPD?
- Can COPD be prevented?
Read the full article at MedlinePlus
Courtesy of MedlinePlus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Convert J44.9 to ICD-9-CMHistory
The closest ICD-9-CM equivalents under the General Equivalence Mappings.
Code HistoryHistory
Questions About J44.9Overview
What is the ICD-10 code for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, unspecified?
The ICD-10-CM code for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, unspecified is J44.9 (sometimes written as J449). It is billable on HIPAA-covered claims from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.
Is J44.9 (Other chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) a billable code?
Yes. This is a billable ICD-10-CM code, specific enough to report chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, unspecified on HIPAA-covered claims from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.
What MS-DRG does J44.9 group to?
When chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, unspecified is the principal diagnosis on an inpatient stay, it groups to MS-DRG 192, 190, 191, with relative weights from 0.6285 to 1.0749 depending on complications. Higher weights mean higher Medicare reimbursement.
Can J44.9 be reported with J68.0?
Not as a rule. The Excludes1 note at block J40-J4B, which applies to J44.9, lists "bronchitis due to chemicals, gases, fumes and vapors (J68.0)". An Excludes1 note means the excluded code is never reported together with this one; the only exception is when the two conditions are unrelated to each other (Official Guidelines, Section I.A.12.a).
What is the ICD-9 equivalent of J44.9?
Under the General Equivalence Mappings, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, unspecified converts to ICD-9-CM 491.20 (obst chr bronc w/o exac), 493.20 (chronic obst asthma NOS), and 496 (chr airway obstruct NEC). The mapping is approximate, so confirm the match fits the documentation.
What HCC is J44.9?
J44.9 (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, unspecified) maps to CMS-HCC Category 280 (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Interstitial Lung Disorders, and Other Chronic Lung Disorders), commonly written as HCC 280, in the CMS-HCC V28 model used for Medicare Advantage risk adjustment in payment year 2027. It mapped to HCC 111 under the retired V24 model. It also maps in the PACE (CMS-HCC V22), ESRD (V21), and ESRD (V24) models. In the Part D prescription drug model it maps to RxHCC 229.
Does J44.9 risk-adjust for Medicare Advantage payment?
Yes. When documented and reported on a Medicare Advantage encounter, J44.9 adds a risk adjustment factor of about 0.319 to the beneficiary's RAF score for a community, non-dual, aged enrollee (published V28 weights range from 0.209 to 0.390 depending on the payment segment). A more severe related category (HCC 276, HCC 277, HCC 278, and HCC 279) supersedes it when both are reported. See the full factor table on the HCC 280 category page.
