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Compare/V99 vs W20

V99 vs W20

V99 (Unspecified transport accident) compared with W20 (Struck by thrown, projected or falling object), 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. W20 carries an Excludes1 note covering V99: “falling object in transport accident (V01-V99)”

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

V99Unspecified transport accidentW20Struck by thrown, projected or falling object
Billing statusNon-billable header

Report instead: V99.XXXA, V99.XXXD, V99.XXXS

Non-billable header

Report instead: W20.0XXA, W20.0XXD, W20.0XXS, W20.1XXA, W20.1XXD

ClassificationV00-Y99 — External Causes of Morbidity (V00-Y99)V00-Y99 — External Causes of Morbidity (V00-Y99)
DefinitionUnspecified transport accident is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (V99).Struck by thrown, projected or falling object is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (W20).
7th characterThe appropriate 7th character is to be added to code V99The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category W20
Code first
any associated:
cataclysm (X34-X39)

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