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CO-68 Denial Code (Deactivated): DRG Weight

CO-68 reported the DRG weight used to price an inpatient claim. X12 deactivated it because the DRG weight is carried directly in the 835 claim payment segment (CLP12), not as an adjustment reason code.

X12 deactivated CARC68 on October 16, 2003. Payers should no longer use it on new remittances, but it can still appear on older ERAs, corrected claims, and appeals.

Code: CO-68 (CARC 68)
Status: Deactivated StoppedOctober 16, 2003 (in use since January 1, 1995).
Code set: Claim Adjustment Reason Codes (CARC)
Group codes: CO (Contractual Obligation): Used on institutional remittances to pass along pricing information, not to shift liability.
Official description: DRG weight. (Handled in CLP12)
X12 Claim Adjustment Reason Codes, retrieved September 25, 2026
Last verified: September 24, 2026 against the official X12 list.

What CO-68 meant

Hospitals paid under diagnosis-related groups receive a payment largely determined by the DRG’s relative weight. CARC 68 was a way to show that weight on the remittance so the hospital could check the payer’s pricing. It was information, not a reason for reducing the claim.

What replaced it

No CARC replaced it. As the code’s text explains, the DRG weight is handled in CLP12, a dedicated field in the claim payment segment. That is a cleaner place for it, since a weight is a number used in pricing rather than an explanation of an adjustment.

For DRG-related adjustments that do need a reason, payers use active codes such as CO-A8 for an ungroupable DRG, CO-70 for cost outliers, and CO-232 for transfer payments.

If you still see CO-68

Expect it only on archived institutional remittances. When auditing old DRG payments, you can use the CO-68 value as the weight the payer applied and compare it with the DRG you assigned. On current claims, pull the weight from CLP12; if it does not match your grouper output, confirm the DRG and grouper version with the payer before disputing the payment.

CO-A8 (Ungroupable DRG.): Ungroupable DRG, when the claim could not be assigned to a DRG.
CO-70 (Cost outlier - Adjustment to compensate for additional costs.): Cost outlier adjustment on DRG-paid claims.
CO-232 (Institutional Transfer Amount.): Institutional transfer amount, which explains DRG payment differences on transfers.

CO-68 FAQ

What is a DRG weight?

It is the relative weight assigned to a diagnosis-related group, reflecting expected resource use compared with an average case. The payer multiplies it by a base rate to set the inpatient payment.

Where do I find DRG weight on a modern 835?

In the claim payment information segment. The code's official text points to CLP12, which holds the DRG weight.

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