1. Home
  2. ICD-10-CM Codes
  3. L00–L99
  4. L80-L99
  5. L98
  6. 2026 ICD-10-CM Code L98.A296

2026 ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code L98.A296

Non-pressure chronic ulcer of unspecified forearm with bone involvement without evidence of necrosis

ICD-10-CM Code:
L98.A296
ICD-10 Code for:
Non-prs chr ulc of unsp forearm w bne invl w/o evd of necr
Is Billable?
Yes - Valid for Submission
Code Navigator:

L98.A296 is a billable diagnosis code used to specify a medical diagnosis of non-pressure chronic ulcer of unspecified forearm with bone involvement without evidence of necrosis. The code is valid during the current fiscal year for the submission of HIPAA-covered transactions from October 01, 2025 through September 30, 2026.

Unspecified diagnosis codes like L98.A296 are acceptable when clinical information is unknown or not available about a particular condition. Although a more specific code is preferable, unspecified codes should be used when such codes most accurately reflect what is known about a patient's condition. Specific diagnosis codes should not be used if not supported by the patient's medical record.

Code Classification

  • Diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue
    L00–L99
    • Other disorders of the skin and subcutaneous tissue
      L80-L99
      • Other disorders of skin and subcutaneous tissue, not elsewhere classified
        L98

New 2026 ICD-10-CM Code

L98.A296 is new to ICD-10-CM code set for the FY 2026, effective October 1, 2025. The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has published an update to the ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes which became effective October 1, 2025. This is a new and revised code for the FY 2026 (October 1, 2025 - September 30, 2026).

Index to Diseases and Injuries References

The following annotation back-references for this diagnosis code are found in the injuries and diseases index. The Index to Diseases and Injuries is an alphabetical listing of medical terms, with each term mapped to one or more ICD-10-CM code(s).

Index of External Cause of Injuries

References found for this diagnosis code in the External Cause of Injuries Index:

    • Ulcer, ulcerated, ulcerating, ulceration, ulcerative
      • forearm
        • with
          • bone involvement without evidence of necrosis

Code Edits

The Medicare Code Editor (MCE) detects errors and inconsistencies in ICD-10-CM diagnosis coding that can affect Medicare claim validity. These Medicare code edits help medical coders and billing professionals determine when a diagnosis code is not appropriate as a principal diagnosis, does not meet coverage criteria. Use this list to verify whether a code is valid for Medicare billing and to avoid claim rejections or denials due to diagnosis coding issues.

Unspecified codes

Unspecified codes exist in the ICD-10-CM classification for circumstances when documentation in the medical record does not provide the level of detail needed to support reporting a more specific code. However, in the inpatient setting, there should generally be very limited and rare circumstances for which the laterality (right, left, bilateral) of a condition is unable to be documented and reported. The following pages contain the list of unspecified ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes for which there is a more specific code to identify laterality (right, left, bilateral) within that code family.

View Edit

Replacement Code

L98A296 replaces the following previously assigned ICD-10-CM code(s):

  • L98.496 - Non-prs chr ulc skin/ oth site with bne invl w/o evd of necr
  • L98.496 - Non-prs chr ulcer of sites with bone invl w/o evd of necr

Code History

  • FY 2026 - Code Added, effective from 10/1/2025 through 9/30/2026