Summary
UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage revised its Pain Management medical policy in the November 2026 bulletin, effective 2026-11-01. Changes include renaming the Pulsed Radiofrequency Ablation heading to a non-thermal method, updating LCD/LCA language to state that LCDs/LCAs exist for all states, removing a cross-reference to the Commercial Ablative Treatment for Spinal Pain policy, adding a pointer to the Commercial Omnibus Codes policy for CPT 0440T, 0441T and 0442T under percutaneous cryoneurolysis, revising the CPT 22899 description for Pulsed and Cooled RFA, and refreshing the CMS-related documents list.
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What to do
Action · 3 steps
01Already effective 2026-11-01: Billing team should update the internal policy reference library and charge entry notes for Medicare Advantage claims involving pulsed or cooled radiofrequency ablation for spinal pain so the revised CPT 22899 description and non-thermal heading are used.
02Billing team should also add the Commercial Omnibus Codes policy as a reference for CPT 0440T, 0441T and 0442T when cryoneurolysis is billed for Medicare Advantage members.
03Providers and front desk staff should be told of the revised descriptions so documentation of the procedure matches the updated policy language.
Codes mentioned
22899
Original notice
Pain Management
uhcprovider.com · Always check the source before changing claims.