J02 vs J03

J02 (Acute pharyngitis) compared with J03 (Acute tonsillitis), from the official CMS tabular data. Do not report these codes together: the official tabular list marks them Excludes1.

Can these codes be reported together?

No — do not report together. J03 carries an Excludes1 note covering J02: “acute sore throat (J02.-)”

Sole exception: when the two conditions are documented as unrelated to each other (ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.A.12.a).

Side by side

	J02Acute pharyngitis	J03Acute tonsillitis
Billing status	Non-billable header Report instead: J02.0, J02.8, J02.9	Non-billable header Report instead: J03.00, J03.01, J03.80, J03.81, J03.90
Classification	J00-J99 — Diseases of the Respiratory System (J00-J99)	J00-J99 — Diseases of the Respiratory System (J00-J99)
Definition	Acute pharyngitis is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (J02).	Acute tonsillitis is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (J03).
Includes	acute sore throat	—

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Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). Not billing advice; verify sequencing rules for the encounter. All data sources