Chiropractic CPT Codes Explained: 98940, 98941 & 98942

The core chiropractic CPT codes are 98940, 98941, and 98942 — they cover chiropractic manipulative treatment (CMT) of the spine, and which one you bill depends on how many spinal regions were treated. Getting the code and its supporting modifiers right is the single biggest factor in whether a chiropractic claim gets paid on the first pass or bounces back as a denial. Here's what each code means and how they work together.

The core spinal manipulation codes (98940–98942)

These three codes describe spinal CMT by the number of regions treated. The five spinal regions are cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and pelvic.

• 98940 — CMT of 1 to 2 spinal regions.
• 98941 — CMT of 3 to 4 spinal regions.
• 98942 — CMT of all 5 spinal regions.
• 98943 — CMT of extraspinal regions (head, extremities, ribs, abdomen). Note: 98943 is not covered by Medicare.

The documentation has to support the number of regions billed. Billing 98942 (all five regions) routinely without notes that justify treating all five is one of the fastest ways to trigger an audit.

The therapy and exam codes billed alongside manipulation

Most chiropractic visits involve more than manipulation, and those services have their own codes. Common ones include:

• 97012 — mechanical traction.
• 97014 / G0283 — electrical stimulation, unattended.
• 97110 — therapeutic exercise.
• 97140 — manual therapy techniques.
• 97530 — therapeutic activities.
• 99202–99215 — evaluation and management (E&M) office visits.

The modifiers that make or break the claim

Correct codes still get denied without the right modifiers — modifier use matters as much as code selection in chiropractic billing.

• AT (Acute Treatment) — Medicare requires this on manipulation claims to signal active, corrective treatment. Without it, Medicare denies the claim as maintenance care.
• Modifier 59 or an X-modifier — often required when manipulation and a therapy service are billed on the same date, to clear NCCI edits that would otherwise bundle them.
• Modifier 25 — used when a separately identifiable E&M service is performed on the same day as manipulation. Leave it off and the exam gets bundled into the adjustment and paid at zero.

In chiropractic billing, the code tells the payer what you did — the modifier tells them why it should be paid separately. Get the modifier wrong and even a correctly coded claim comes back denied.

Why chiropractic coding is a specialty of its own

A general medical biller can process a claim, but chiropractic coding has rules that generalists routinely miss: the region-count logic behind 98940–98942, Medicare's AT-modifier and maintenance-care restrictions, the NCCI edits between manipulation and therapy, and the E&M bundling rules. Each of these is a common denial trigger, and each is avoidable when someone who works in chiropractic every day handles the coding. That specialization is the difference between a 97% first-pass approval rate and a stack of preventable denials.

When coding does go wrong, the result is usually a denial — see why chiropractic claims get denied, and the coding questions in our chiropractic billing FAQ.

Get your coding checked — free

If you're not certain your practice is coding 98940–98942 correctly, applying the right modifiers, or capturing every billable service, our free 30-day billing review will tell you. We check CPT and modifier accuracy across your recent claims and show you exactly where coding is costing you money — no cost, no obligation.