K70.9 — Alcoholic liver disease, unspecified
Is K70.9 billable?
Yes, but K70.9 is an unspecified code. K70.9 is a valid, billable ICD-10-CM code for encounters from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027. However, K70.9 is an unspecified or catch-all code. Payers apply additional scrutiny to unspecified codes and many deny them when the medical record supports a more specific option, so check the documentation before selecting K70.9 — the more specific alternatives are listed below.
K70.9 at a glance
| Code | K70.9 |
|---|---|
| Description | Alcoholic liver disease, unspecified |
| Billable | Yes |
| Code set | ICD-10-CM FY2027 |
| Valid for encounters | October 1, 2026 – September 30, 2027 |
Which MS-DRGs does K70.9 group to?
K70.9 sits in MDC 07 and helps define the logic of 3 MS-DRGs (version 44, FY2027). Which one a stay actually groups to also depends on procedures and secondary diagnoses.
- 432Cirrhosis and Alcoholic Hepatitis with MCCmedical
- 433Cirrhosis and Alcoholic Hepatitis with CCmedical
- 434Cirrhosis and Alcoholic Hepatitis without CC/MCCmedical
How is K70.9 listed in the Alphabetic Index?
These are the routes through the Alphabetic Index that lead to K70.9. They show the wording a clinician may have documented, which often differs from the Tabular description.
- Alcohol, alcoholic, alcohol-induced › liver
- Damage › liver › alcoholic
- Disease, diseased › liver › alcoholic
Excludes1 — never code together — inherited from K70-K77
The conditions below can never be reported together with K70.9 on the same claim. An Excludes1 note means the two conditions cannot occur in the same patient, so reporting both is a coding error.
- jaundice NOS (R17)
Use additional code — inherited from K70
Report an additional code alongside K70.9 to fully describe the condition. K70.9 is sequenced first.
- code to identify:
- alcohol abuse and dependence (F10.-)
Excludes2 — not included here — inherited from Chapter 11
The conditions below are not part of K70.9, but a patient may have both at the same time. When documentation supports it, K70.9 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)
- symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R94)
Excludes2 — not included here — inherited from K70-K77
The conditions below are not part of K70.9, but a patient may have both at the same time. When documentation supports it, K70.9 and the excluded code may both be reported.
How long has K70.9 existed?
K70.9 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.