2026 ICD-10-CM POA Exempt Codes ICD-10-CM
CMS exempts 38,349 ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes from Present on Admission (POA) reporting for fiscal year 2026. Hospitals report a POA indicator for every diagnosis on an inpatient claim so CMS can tell conditions present at admission from those acquired during the stay, but the codes on this list describe circumstances where the question does not apply: sequelae, congenital conditions, external causes of injury, and status codes. For these 86 code ranges no indicator is required.
POA Exempt Code Ranges 86 ranges · 38,349 codes
Questions About POA Exempt Codes
What does POA exempt mean?
Present on Admission indicators tell CMS whether each diagnosis on an inpatient claim existed when the patient was admitted. Exempt codes describe circumstances where that question has no meaning, such as sequelae of an earlier illness, congenital conditions, or the external cause of an injury, so hospitals do not assign an indicator for them.
How many ICD-10-CM codes are exempt from POA reporting?
The FY 2026 CMS exempt list contains 38,349 diagnosis codes across 86 code ranges, effective October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026.
Why does POA reporting matter for payment?
Conditions that were not present on admission (hospital-acquired) can be excluded from the CC/MCC severity logic when CMS assigns the MS-DRG, which lowers the payment for the stay. Exempt codes sit outside this logic entirely.
What indicator is reported for an exempt code?
Exempt codes are reported with the indicator left blank or with the value 1 (unreported, exempt from POA reporting). The other indicators are Y (present), N (not present), U (unknown) and W (clinically undetermined).
Related References
Source: CMS FY 2026 ICD-10-CM POA exempt file, effective October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026. The list is imported directly from the official CMS release.
