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H54.8

Billable

Legal blindness, as defined in USA

This code does not map to an HCC category in any model (V28, V24, ESRD, RxHCC).

What This Code Means

This code describes a level of vision loss that meets the legal definition of blindness in the United States, typically meaning visual acuity of 20/200 or worse in the better eye, or a visual field of 20 degrees or less. It is used for documentation and billing purposes when a patient's vision impairment qualifies them for legal blindness status.

Coding Tips

  • Verify the specific visual acuity measurements or visual field results in the medical record to confirm the patient meets legal blindness criteria before assigning this code
  • Use the 5th character to specify laterality (right eye, left eye, or bilateral) as required by ICD-10-CM guidelines

Excludes 1 — Do NOT code together

  • legal blindness with specification of impairment level (H54.0-H54.7)

Code Hierarchy

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