J20 — Acute bronchitis

Not billable

Is J20 billable?

No — J20 is a non-billable header code. J20 groups more specific codes and cannot be submitted on a claim. A valid ICD-10-CM code must be reported at the highest level of specificity available in its branch. Select one of the 10 billable codes beneath J20.

Billable codes under this header

J20 at a glance

Code	J20
Description	Acute bronchitis
Billable	No — header code
Code set	ICD-10-CM FY2027
Valid for encounters	October 1, 2026 – September 30, 2027

Excludes1 — never code together

The conditions below can never be reported together with J20 on the same claim. An Excludes1 note means the two conditions cannot occur in the same patient, so reporting both is a coding error.

bronchitis NOS (J40)
tracheobronchitis NOS (J40)

Excludes2 — not included here

The conditions below are not part of J20, but a patient may have both at the same time. When documentation supports it, J20 and the excluded code may both be reported.

acute bronchitis with bronchiectasis (J47.0)
acute bronchitis with chronic obstructive asthma (J44.0)
acute bronchitis with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (J44.0)
allergic bronchitis NOS (J45.909)
bronchitis due to chemicals, fumes and vapors (J68.0)
chronic bronchitis NOS (J42)
chronic mucopurulent bronchitis (J41.1)
chronic obstructive bronchitis (J44.-)
chronic obstructive tracheobronchitis (J44.-)
chronic simple bronchitis (J41.0)
chronic tracheobronchitis (J42)

Includes

Conditions classified to J20.

acute and subacute bronchitis (with) bronchospasm
acute and subacute bronchitis (with) tracheitis
acute and subacute bronchitis (with) tracheobronchitis, acute
acute and subacute fibrinous bronchitis
acute and subacute membranous bronchitis
acute and subacute purulent bronchitis
acute and subacute septic bronchitis

Use additional code — inherited from Chapter 10

Report an additional code alongside J20 to fully describe the condition. J20 is sequenced first.

code, where applicable, to identify:
exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (Z77.22)
exposure to tobacco smoke in the perinatal period (P96.81)
history of tobacco dependence (Z87.891)
occupational exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (Z57.31)
tobacco dependence (F17.-)
tobacco use (Z72.0)

Excludes2 — not included here — inherited from Chapter 10

The conditions below are not part of J20, but a patient may have both at the same time. When documentation supports it, J20 and the excluded code may both be reported.

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)

Excludes2 — not included here — inherited from J20-J22

The conditions below are not part of J20, but a patient may have both at the same time. When documentation supports it, J20 and the excluded code may both be reported.

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with acute lower respiratory infection (J44.0)

What codes fall under J20? (10)

How long has J20 existed?

J20 has been in ICD-10-CM since at least FY2016, the earliest fiscal year on record here.

Derived from the official order files for FY2016–FY2026. FY2017 and FY2020 publish no order file, so those years are not covered.

Which codes are confused with J20?

ICD-10-CM declares these codes mutually exclusive with J20 — exactly one of each pair can be correct for a given encounter.

vs J40Bronchitis, not specified as acute or chronic