What's the F-code on my therapy bill?

A: It's your diagnosis in ICD-10 shorthand — the mental health chapter's codes all start with F. The ones you'll most likely meet: F41.1 generalized anxiety, F33.x recurrent depression (the digit after the dot grades severity), F43.1x PTSD, and the workhorse F43.2x — adjustment disorder, the "a hard thing happened and it's affecting you" diagnosis therapists often reach for first because it's accurate, treatable, and the least heavy label that unlocks coverage. Insurance requires a code because coverage runs on medical necessity →; no diagnosis, no claim. Who sees it: your insurer, and anyone you later authorize to pull records — which is the real reason to know your code exists (what lands on your insurance record →, and when records can be subpoenaed →). Cash-pay clients can skip diagnosis entirely; that's one of the legitimate reasons some people pay out of pocket →.

Worked example: EOB reads "90834 · F43.22." Translation: 45-minute session, adjustment disorder with anxiety. Not "permanently anxious person" — a billing-grade description of a rough season.

Do this: you're entitled to ask, "What diagnosis are you using, and why?" Good therapists treat it as a normal conversation — and it's your chart, requestable any time →.

Source: WHO, ICD-10 Chapter V (F00–F99) — icd.who.int; CMS, ICD-10-CM guidelines — cms.gov.