Eating Disorder ICD-10 Codes: F50 Anorexia, Bulimia and Binge Eating

Anorexia nervosa is split by type (restricting, or binge eating/purging) and then by severity or remission. In the FY2027 tabular list, each severity code has inclusion terms that give the body mass index range the classification associates with that level. They are printed in the table below. The Official Guidelines base code assignment on the provider's diagnostic statement, not on the clinical criteria the provider used (Section I.A.19), so the severity that goes on the claim is the one the clinician documents.

The unspecified codes exist for records that do not give the type or the severity: F50.00 for anorexia nervosa, unspecified, and F50.019 and F50.029 for a documented type with severity unspecified.

Bulimia nervosa (F50.2-) and binge eating disorder (F50.81-) are split by severity or remission, and the tabular list gives weekly episode counts as inclusion terms. For bulimia nervosa the counts are of inappropriate compensatory behavior per week; for binge eating disorder they are of binge eating episodes per week. As with anorexia nervosa, the severity on the claim is the one the clinician documents.

Category F50 carries Excludes1 notes for anorexia NOS (R63.0), feeding problems of newborn (P92.-) and polyphagia (R63.2), and Excludes2 notes for feeding difficulties (R63.3-) and feeding disorder in infancy or childhood (F98.2-). R63.0, Anorexia, is the symptom code for loss of appetite, and it is not used for anorexia nervosa. Excludes1 means the excluded code should never be reported at the same time, unless the conditions are unrelated; Excludes2 means the excluded condition is not part of the code but both can be reported when both are documented (Official Guidelines Section I.A.12).

Within the family, F50.02 (anorexia nervosa, binge eating/purging type) has an Excludes1 note for bulimia nervosa (F50.2-), and F50.2 has a matching Excludes1 note for F50.02-, so one of the two is chosen for a given presentation. F50.0 has an Excludes1 note for loss of appetite (R63.0) and psychogenic loss of appetite (F50.89).

Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder has its own code, F50.82. Pica and rumination disorder in adults are F50.83 and F50.84, and their childhood forms are coded in F98 (F98.3 and F98.21). F50.89 is titled Other specified eating disorder, and F50.9, Eating disorder, unspecified, lists atypical anorexia nervosa, atypical bulimia nervosa, feeding or eating disorder unspecified and other specified feeding disorder among its inclusion terms.

Because "other specified feeding disorder" appears as an inclusion term under F50.9 while F50.89 carries the title Other specified eating disorder, read both entries in the tabular list and use the code that matches the clinician's documented wording.

The ICD-10-CM code says why the client is being seen; the CPT code says what service was provided. A 53 minute individual session for a client with a documented eating disorder is reported as CPT 90837 with the F50 code as the diagnosis, and the initial evaluation is reported as CPT 90791. Which diagnoses and services a payer covers varies by payer and plan. Confirm with the payer before billing.