CommercialBilling CodesHigh impact
Surgery of the Elbow
UnitedHealthcare·Orthopedics, General Surgery·Medical Policy
Effective date
Aug 1, 2026
We identified it
Jul 2, 2026
Summary
UnitedHealthcare revised its Surgery of the Elbow policy effective August 1, 2026, removing three CPT codes (24370, 24371, 29830) and updating clinical coverage criteria references from InterQual CP: Procedures for Arthroscopy/Arthroplasty to new InterQual criteria for Arthroscopy, Surgical and Joint Replacement procedures. Billing teams must stop using the deleted codes and reference updated InterQual guidelines for medical necessity determinations.
Action Required
By August 1, 2026: Billing team must remove CPT codes 24370, 24371, and 29830 from all elbow surgery billing workflows, templates, and billing system configurations for UnitedHealthcare commercial plans. Update coding references to use the revised InterQual® criteria for Arthroscopy, Surgical, Elbow and Joint Replacement, Elbow (accessible via https://www.uhcprovider.com/content/dam/provider/docs/public/policies/mpub-archives/commercial/medical-policy-update-bulletin-july-2026.pdf). Train coding and clinical staff on the new medical necessity criteria. Claims submitted with the deleted codes after the effective date will be denied or require correction.