Use HCC Buddy's CMS-HCC V28 Payment Year 2026 RAF Calculator with complete member context. No score is shown unless source and calculation checks pass.

Quick Answer

HCC Buddy's free tier includes limited ICD-10-CM lookup plus the RAF tool. Code results label CY2026 V28, the historical PY2025 V24 reference, and source status. A mapping or factor without verified source support is not shown. The HCC coding software toolkit is the canonical list of current limits and included tools.

Why Free HCC Coding Tools Matter

Not every coder needs a $500/year subscription. Students learning HCC coding need practice tools. Part-time coders processing 5 to 10 charts per day need something functional without a monthly bill. Coders evaluating whether to recommend a tool to their team need to try before they buy. And coders paying out of pocket, which is more common than the industry admits, need to know what they can get for free before committing their own money.

The market for free HCC coding tools is small but growing. Here is what is available, what each tool actually provides, and where the limitations are.

HCC Buddy Free Tier: What Is Included

3 ICD-10 Lookups Per Day

Every day, you get 10 searches in the ICD-10 Encoder. Each search returns data sourced from the CMS ICD-10-CM code set and the CMS 2026 risk-adjustment model software and ICD-10 mappings:

Full code details, Description, billable status, code hierarchy, chapter/section placement

V28 HCC mapping, Which HCC category (if any) the code maps to under the current V28 model

Historical V24 mapping, The CMS-HCC V24, payment year 2025 reference for prior-year comparison

RAF coefficient, The exact weight each HCC carries in the risk adjustment formula

Hierarchy information, Where the HCC sits in the hierarchy and which other HCCs it interacts with

Three lookups per day is enough for:

Students and trainees practicing HCC coding

Coders who need occasional verification of codes they mostly know by heart

CDI specialists who review 3 to 5 charts per day and need to verify HCC impact for specific codes

Anyone evaluating HCC Buddy before committing to Pro

Unlimited NPI Lookup

The NPI Lookup tool is fully available on the free tier with no daily limit. You can:

Search for any provider by name, NPI number, or specialty

View provider credentials, practice location, and taxonomy codes

Verify that the rendering provider on a claim is a qualifying provider type for risk adjustment

NPI lookup is used daily by coders who need to verify that an encounter was with a provider type eligible for risk adjustment data submission. Not all provider types qualify, and knowing which ones do is essential for determining whether an encounter's diagnoses can be used for HCC capture.

Unlimited Drug Reference

The Drug Reference tool is fully available on the free tier with no daily limit. You can:

Search any medication by brand or generic name

Review ICD-10-CM concepts associated with the medication

Use those links as review clues before returning to the provider's documentation

A medication does not establish a diagnosis or support an HCC by itself. Confirm the diagnosis in the record before coding or querying.

RAF Tool

The RAF tool supports CMS-HCC V28 for Payment Year 2026. It requires:

The complete ICD-10-CM diagnosis set

Age, sex, original reason for entitlement, and a supported member segment

Institutional Medicaid months when the institutional segment applies

Passing CMS source checks before a score is shown

Historical PY2025 V24 remains a mapping and coefficient reference, not a member score. PACE requires its own blended calculation.

How HCC Buddy Free Compares to Other Free Tools

ICD10Data.com (Free)

What it provides: ICD-10 code lookup with descriptions, hierarchy navigation, and code details. Well-indexed by Google. Clean, fast interface.

> RAF Calculator: The RAF Calculator supports CMS-HCC V28 for Payment Year 2026 and requires complete member context. HCC Buddy shows a score only after the server confirms the required source and calculation checks. If a check is unavailable or does not pass, no score is shown.

ICD10Data is an ICD-10 reference tool, not an HCC coding tool.

Best for: General ICD-10 code lookups when you need a description or hierarchy reference. Not useful for risk adjustment work.

ICDcodes.ai (Free)

What it provides: natural-language ICD-10 code search with natural language queries. Some HCC mapping data on select codes. Modern interface.

The AI search is useful for exploration but can occasionally return inaccurate results for specific coding queries.

Best for: Exploring codes using natural language ("heart failure reduced ejection fraction"). Not recommended as a primary production tool.

MedCode Pro (Free)

What it provides: ICD-10 code lookup with partial HCC mapping information. Basic search and browse functionality.

The HCC data may lag behind CMS updates.

Best for: Quick code lookups when you need some HCC context. Limited for comprehensive risk adjustment work.

Comparison Table

Feature	HCC Buddy Free	ICD10Data	ICDcodes.ai	MedCode Pro
ICD-10 Search	10/day	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
V28 HCC Mapping	Explicit status on every lookup	No	Partial	Partial
Historical PY2025 V24 reference	Source-labeled when available	No	No	Partial
Member RAF scoring	CMS-HCC V28 PY2026	No	No	No
RAF Calculator	CMS-HCC V28 PY2026	No	No	No
Drug Reference	Unlimited	No	No	No
NPI Lookup	Unlimited	No	No	No
Chrome Extension	No (Pro only)	No	No	No

What the Free Tier Does NOT Include

To be transparent about the limitations:

3 lookup limit per day, If you process 20+ charts per day, you will hit this limit by mid-morning. Pro removes the limit entirely. It is $19.99/month for founding members during the founding window, then $29.99/month after it closes.

No Chrome extension access, The Chrome extension that provides in-EHR coding requires a Pro subscription. Free users access the tools through the website.

No team features, The free tier is for individual use. Team pricing and multi-user management require a paid plan.

Who Should Use the Free Tier vs. Upgrade to Pro

Stay on Free If:

You are a student or trainee learning HCC coding and need practice with a real tool

You process fewer than 10 charts per day and the daily lookup limit is sufficient

You primarily use the RAF calculator and drug reference (which are unlimited) and only occasionally need code lookups

You are evaluating HCC Buddy before recommending it to your team

Upgrade to Pro If:

You process 10 or more charts per day and need unlimited lookups

You want the Chrome extension for in-EHR coding (this is the biggest Pro advantage, it eliminates tab-switching)

You work in a high-volume risk adjustment setting where speed matters

You need the tool available all day without worrying about hitting a daily limit

How to Get Started With the Free Tier

1. Go to hccbuddy.com/signup and create an account

2. The free tier activates immediately

4. If you decide to upgrade, Pro starts at $19.99/month for founding members during the founding window and adds unlimited lookups plus the Chrome extension

The free tier does not expire. There is no 7-day trial period for the free features, they are permanently available at zero cost. This is not a freemium bait-and-switch. The free tier is a real product designed to be genuinely useful at the free level while giving coders a reason to upgrade when their volume justifies it.

The Bottom Line

If you do HCC coding work, a tool should distinguish a mapped result, a verified no-map, a non-billable code, a member-context requirement, and a result unavailable for the selected release. The free tier of HCC Buddy provides source-labeled lookup plus access to the surrounding RAF, drug-reference, and NPI tools.

The question is not whether to use a free HCC coding tool. The question is which one. For risk adjustment work specifically, HCC Buddy's free tier provides more HCC-relevant functionality than any other free option available.

Create your account, then choose the option that fits your workflow.

Free HCC Coding Tool: What You Get Without Paying a Dime