Nebraska Medicaid: Knee injection coverage and attestation for single-dose drugs

Effective Jan. 1, 2026, Nebraska Medicaid has made the following 2 changes to their coverage guidelines:

Discontinuation of knee injection coverage

Nebraska Medicaid and long-term care will no longer cover hyaluronan intra-articular injections as a pharmacy or medical benefit for treating symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. According to the Nebraska Provider Bulletin 25-23, the products were found not medically necessary due to lack of robust evidence of their benefits. 

As UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Nebraska follows the guidelines set by the state, claims for the following HCPCS codes will not be reimbursed: J7320, J7321, J7322, J7324, J7325, J7326, J7327, J7329, J7331, J7332.

Attestation of no-waste drug use

Nebraska Medicaid is requiring health care providers to attest the full use of drugs administered from a single vial, single package drug or biological. Any amount discarded must be documented in the patient’s medical record.

To attest no-wastage for single-use containers, health care providers must include the modifier JZ to NDS lines. Include the following information in the claim lines: 

• CPT® or HCPCS code of the given drug
• JZ modifier
• The number of units administered

Review the Discarded Drugs and Biologicals Reimbursement Policy for more information.