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edical billers — are you getting denied on GI cocktail claims?

Here is the truth about GI cocktail billing:

There is NO dedicated CPT code for GI cocktails Medicare will NOT pay separately for oral GI cocktails CPT 99070 is almost always denied J8499 is excluded by Medicare for oral medications

The correct approach in most cases:

Bill the E/M visit code only Add 96372 only if IV components were used Use unlisted codes as a last resort with documentation

Medical billers — are you coding GERD correctly?

The two main GERD ICD-10 codes are K21.0 and K21.9. Here is the key difference:

K21.0 — Use when GERD is documented WITH esophagitis K21.9 — Use when GERD is documented WITHOUT esophagitis

Never code K21.0 unless esophagitis is explicitly confirmed in provider documentation. Assuming esophagitis without documentation leads to claim denials.

FY2026 guidelines are clear — always code what the provider documents.

Medical billers and coders often default to R53.1 for any weakness documentation — but that's not always the right call.

Here's the key difference:

R53.1 — Use when weakness is documented as a symptom and no definitive diagnosis has been confirmed yet

M62.81 — Use when the provider documents "muscle weakness (generalized)" as the actual condition

Getting this wrong leads to denials. R53.1 actually excludes M62.81 in the ICD-10-CM guidelines — so using R53.1 as a blanket code for all weakness documentation is a billing error.

The FY2026 guidelines also cover leg weakness, arm weakness, bilateral lower extremity weakness and more.