Fall & winter care
Innovare TxRegenerative & Wellness
Knee Program · Step 3

The covered knee injection series

After an evaluation and a start on physical therapy, the next step in the program is one your insurance is built to pay for: a series of knee injections, up to five per knee, usually allowed about twice a year.

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In short
Step 3 of the Knee Program is an insurance-covered injection series: the knee injections your plan pays for, such as corticosteroid or hyaluronic acid (gel), given as a series of up to five injections per knee. Most plans allow a series about twice a year. Which injection fits your knee is decided at your evaluation, and our billing team verifies your plan’s rules before the first one.

Where the series sits in the program

The program runs in a fixed order: consultation and diagnostics, then physical therapy, then the injection series. For many patients the injections bring real relief, and that relief is temporary — which is why they are used alongside therapy, to make the exercise possible, rather than instead of it.

Everything on this step is on the insurance side of the program. The orthobiologic procedures are a separate, cash-pay step for patients who want to try more before considering surgery.

The injections in the series

Corticosteroid (cortisone). An anti-inflammatory medication placed into the joint. The ACR’s 2026 update to its osteoarthritis guideline strongly recommends intra-articular corticosteroid injection for knee osteoarthritis. The effect is temporary, and repeat injections into the same joint are limited.

Hyaluronic acid (gel, viscosupplementation). A gel-like substance related to a natural component of joint fluid, usually given as a course of weekly injections. Guideline bodies disagree about it: the ACR’s 2026 update conditionally recommends against it for knee osteoarthritis, while many insurers still cover it. We will tell you where the evidence stands before you decide.

Other covered injections are used when your findings call for them. Injections are placed under in-office ultrasound guidance when that is useful. For a plain-English comparison of every knee injection, read knee injections: what each one is.

How the series and the limits work

  • Up to five injections per knee in a series, depending on the injection used
  • Each knee has its own series
  • Most plans allow a series about twice a year — roughly every six months
  • Some plans require an X-ray, a trial of physical therapy or prior authorization first
  • We verify your plan’s rules and the date of your last covered series before booking

What happens at reassessment

We compare the same measurements taken at your first visit. If the knee is doing well, the plan continues. If the relief is not lasting, we do not simply repeat the series — we talk through the next options: the cash-pay orthobiologic procedures we perform here, an evaluation for genicular artery embolization, or a surgical opinion. The aim is to try everything reasonable before surgery, and to coordinate your care whichever way you go.

PRP, PPP, BMAC, and A2M are autologous procedures prepared from your own blood or bone marrow. They are considered investigational and are not FDA-approved for the treatment of any specific orthopedic condition, including osteoarthritis. Individual results are not guaranteed. Any decision to pursue an orthobiologic procedure should be made with your provider after a clinical evaluation.

Questions, answered

Knee injection FAQs

The injections your plan covers for knee osteoarthritis — most commonly corticosteroid (cortisone) injections and hyaluronic acid, often called gel injections. Coverage rules differ by plan: some require an X-ray showing osteoarthritis, a documented trial of physical therapy, or prior authorization first. We check those rules before your first injection so a claim is not denied after the fact.
Some knee injections are given as a course rather than a single shot — several gel products, for example, are given once a week for three to five weeks. The series is up to five injections per knee, and the exact number depends on which injection is used. Treating both knees means a series for each.
Most insurance plans allow a knee injection series about twice a year — roughly every six months — per knee. Your plan sets the limit, not us, so we confirm your plan's frequency rule and the date of your last covered series before booking the next one.
Many patients get real relief from them, and the effect is temporary. The ACR's 2026 update to its osteoarthritis guideline strongly recommends intra-articular corticosteroid injection for knee osteoarthritis, and conditionally recommends against hyaluronic acid injection; other guideline bodies differ on gel injections. That is why the series sits inside a plan with physical therapy, not in place of it, and why we reassess on a fixed date.
No. The covered series uses approved injectable medications. PRP, PPP, BMAC and A2M are autologous orthobiologic procedures prepared from your own blood or bone marrow; they are investigational, not covered by insurance, and are a separate, cash-pay step in the program. See orthobiologic options.
Then we say so at reassessment and talk through what comes next — the cash-pay orthobiologic procedures we perform here, an evaluation for genicular artery embolization, which is performed by an interventional radiologist, or a surgical opinion. We coordinate whichever of those you choose.

Find out what your plan covers

Book an evaluation at our Addison clinic, or call and we’ll verify your insurance before you come in.

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