Knee Osteoarthritis: Exercise and Treatment

Sources

1. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIH). Osteoarthritis. Last reviewed September 2023. Checked October 29, 2026.
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   “Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease, in which the tissues in the joint break down over time. It is the most common type of arthritis”; it can damage cartilage, tendons and ligaments, the synovium, bone and the meniscus; less activity “can lead to muscle weakness, which may cause more stress on the joint”; women are more likely to have it, “especially after age 50”; stiffness “usually lasting less than 30 minutes”; at the knee, grinding and, over time, buckling; trouble “stepping up, getting on or off the toilet or in and out of a chair ... or walking across a parking lot”; tiredness, sleep problems and depression; “This does not happen because of simple wear and tear on the joints”; risk factors: aging, overweight or obesity, a history of joint injury or surgery, overuse from repetitive movements, joints that do not form correctly, family history.
2. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, OrthoInfo. Arthritis of the knee. Checked October 29, 2026.
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   The knee is the femur, tibia and patella, with articular cartilage on the bone ends, two menisci that act as “shock absorbers,” and a synovial membrane whose fluid lubricates the cartilage; osteoarthritis “is the most common form of arthritis in the knee” and “occurs most often in people 50 years of age and older”; the cartilage “gradually wears away,” the space between the bones decreases, and bone spurs form; rheumatoid and posttraumatic arthritis, the latter after fractures, meniscal tears and ligament injuries; symptoms: pain that usually develops gradually, stiffness and swelling, pain and swelling worse in the morning or after sitting, flares after vigorous activity, locking, sticking, creaking or grinding, buckling, more pain with weather changes; the examination (swelling, warmth, redness, tenderness, motion, instability, crepitus, pain on weight bearing, gait, other joints); X-rays may show narrowing of the joint space and bone spurs, and an MRI or CT scan “Occasionally” may be needed; blood tests to tell types of arthritis apart; “initial treatment of arthritis of the knee is nonsurgical”; minimize aggravating activities such as climbing stairs; switch from high-impact activities to swimming or cycling; balance, agility and coordination exercises with traditional exercise may help function and walking speed; losing weight reduces stress on the knee; a cane, brace or knee sleeve, with “unloader” and “support” braces; “Placing wedges in your shoe is not recommended”; heat, ice or elastic bandages; NSAIDs used with caution or avoided with coronary artery disease, heart failure and chronic kidney disease, and a strong recommendation for topical NSAIDs; opioids “should be avoided”; steroid injections limited to “three or four per year, per joint,” and “With frequent repeated injections ... joint damage can actually increase”; no evidence that glucosamine and chondroitin “decrease or reverse the progression of arthritis”; PRP and stem cells: “clinical studies have yet to confirm their value”; arthroscopy “is not often used to treat arthritis of the knee” but may be recommended for a degenerative meniscal tear; osteotomy for early osteoarthritis on one side; partial or total knee replacement.
3. GBD 2021 Osteoarthritis Collaborators. Global, regional, and national burden of osteoarthritis, 1990–2020 and projections to 2050: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. The Lancet Rheumatology. 2023;5(9):e508–e522. doi:10.1016/S2665-9913(23)00163-7 (PMID 37675071).
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   “Globally, 595 million ... people had osteoarthritis in 2020, equal to 7·6% ... of the global population”; knee cases projected to rise 74.9% by 2050; “Knee was the most common site for osteoarthritis”; “High BMI contributed to 20·4% ... of osteoarthritis.”
4. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Osteoarthritis in over 16s: diagnosis and management (NG226): recommendations. Published October 19, 2022. Checked October 29, 2026.
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   Diagnose osteoarthritis clinically without imaging in people who “are 45 or over,” have “activity-related joint pain” and “either no morning joint-related stiffness or morning stiffness that lasts no longer than 30 minutes”; “Do not routinely use imaging to diagnose osteoarthritis unless there are atypical features,” which could include “a history of recent trauma, prolonged morning joint-related stiffness, rapid worsening of symptoms or deformity, the presence of a hot swollen joint, or concerns that may suggest infection or malignancy”; “the core treatments for the condition are therapeutic exercise and weight management (if appropriate), along with information and support”; offer therapeutic exercise “tailored to their needs (for example, local muscle strengthening, general aerobic fitness)” and consider supervised sessions; joint pain “may increase when they start therapeutic exercise,” and “long-term adherence to an exercise plan increases its benefits”; “any amount of weight loss is likely to be beneficial, but losing 10% of their body weight is likely to be better than 5%”; manual therapy only alongside therapeutic exercise; do not offer acupuncture, dry needling or electrotherapy, including TENS; “Consider walking aids”; do not routinely offer “insoles, braces, tape, splints or supports” unless there is joint instability or abnormal biomechanical loading and exercise is ineffective or unsuitable without the aid; medicines alongside exercise “at the lowest effective dose for the shortest possible time”; “Offer a topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) to people with knee osteoarthritis”; an oral NSAID if topical medicines are ineffective or unsuitable, with a gastroprotective treatment; do not routinely offer paracetamol or weak opioids; “Do not offer glucosamine or strong opioids”; “Do not offer intra-articular hyaluronan injections”; consider corticosteroid injections “when other pharmacological treatments are ineffective or unsuitable, or to support therapeutic exercise,” explaining that “these only provide short‑term relief (2 to 10 weeks)”; “Do not routinely use imaging for follow-up or to guide non-surgical management”; seek follow-up if planned management is not working; consider referral for joint replacement when joint symptoms “are substantially impacting their quality of life” and non-surgical management “is ineffective or unsuitable,” using clinical assessment rather than scoring systems, and without excluding people because of age, sex or gender, smoking, comorbidities or body mass index; “Do not offer arthroscopic lavage or debridement”; a flare is “A temporary worsening of symptoms (pain, swelling and stiffness)” that is worse than normal, may affect sleep, activity, function and psychological wellbeing, and “may lead to change in therapy for at least 24 hours.”
5. Bannuru RR, Osani MC, Vaysbrot EE, et al. OARSI guidelines for the non-surgical management of knee, hip, and polyarticular osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage. 2019;27(11):1578–1589. doi:10.1016/j.joca.2019.06.011 (PMID 31278997).
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   An international guideline built on GRADE evidence profiles and panel voting: “Core Treatments for Knee OA included arthritis education and structured land-based exercise programs with or without dietary weight management”; topical NSAIDs “were strongly recommended for individuals with Knee OA (Level 1A)”; no oral NSAID for people with cardiovascular comorbidities or frailty; intra-articular corticosteroids, hyaluronic acid and aquatic exercise were Level 1B or 2 depending on comorbidities; acetaminophen “conditionally not recommended”; “oral and transdermal opioids was strongly not recommended (Level 5).”
6. Kolasinski SL, Neogi T, Hochberg MC, et al. 2019 American College of Rheumatology/Arthritis Foundation guideline for the management of osteoarthritis of the hand, hip, and knee. Arthritis Care & Research. 2020;72(2):149–162. doi:10.1002/acr.24131 (PMID 31908149).
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   A GRADE guideline whose voting panel included patients and physical and occupational therapists. Strong recommendations for exercise, weight loss for people with overweight or obesity, self-efficacy and self-management programs, tai chi, a cane, tibiofemoral knee braces, topical NSAIDs for knee OA, oral NSAIDs and intra-articular glucocorticoid injections; exercise for the knee “could include walking, strengthening, neuromuscular training, and aquatic exercise, with no hierarchy of one over another. Exercise is associated with better outcomes when supervised”; evidence “is insufficient to recommend specific exercise prescriptions”; “A loss of ≥5% of body weight can be associated with changes in clinical and mechanistic outcomes,” with benefits that “continue to increase with weight loss of 5–10%, 10–20%, and >20%”; a cane or brace when the knee is “causing a sufficiently large impact on ambulation, joint stability, or pain,” the brace for those who tolerate “the associated inconvenience and burden”; conditional: balance exercises, yoga, cognitive behavioral therapy, patellofemoral bracing, thermal treatments, acetaminophen, duloxetine, tramadol and topical capsaicin for knee OA; studies “do not define the best type of footwear”; conditionally against: wedged insoles, massage, manual therapy added to exercise, hyaluronic acid injections for the knee and prolotherapy; strongly against: TENS, glucosamine, chondroitin, “Platelet-rich plasma treatment” and “Stem cell injections,” the last two because of the lack of standardization in preparations.
7. Fransen M, McConnell S, Harmer AR, et al. Exercise for osteoarthritis of the knee. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2015;(1):CD004376. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD004376.pub3 (PMID 25569281).
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   54 trials of land-based exercise: “High-quality evidence from 44 trials (3537 participants) indicates that exercise reduced pain,” by about 12 points on a 0 to 100 scale; moderate-quality evidence that function improved by about 10 points; benefits sustained two to six months after treatment ended (6 and 3 points); the effect is “moderate (immediate) to small (two to six months) but comparable with estimates reported for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs”; individually delivered programs tended to do better than class or home programs; the only adverse events were increased knee or low back pain, and “No study reported a serious adverse event”; most participants knew their treatment, which “may have contributed to their improvement.”
8. American Physical Therapy Association, ChoosePT. Physical therapy guide to osteoarthritis. Expert review September 12, 2023; revised March 1, 2024. Checked October 29, 2026.
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   Risk factors include obesity, age, being female, genetics, past injury, and jobs with repeated or prolonged squatting, bending, kneeling and twisting; “Warmth with swelling or redness around the joint is not typical with OA. It may indicate a different condition”; physical therapists may use the 2022 NICE criteria; “You can contact a physical therapist directly for an evaluation”; the therapist performs an exam, designs an exercise program, uses manual therapy, suggests ways to adjust your work area, teaches aerobic and strengthening exercise and a home program, may recommend “a cane, walker, or knee brace if needed,” discusses safe weight loss, and refers to an orthopedist when therapy alone does not help.
9. MedlinePlus, US National Library of Medicine. Knee pain. Review date November 7, 2024. Checked October 29, 2026.
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   Ice every hour for up to 15 minutes on the first day, then at least 4 times a day, with a towel; keep the knee raised; an elastic bandage or sleeve; ibuprofen or naproxen, checking with your provider if you have medical problems; “Sleep with a pillow underneath or between your knees”; avoid running down hills; “Reduce the amount of or modify the exercise you do”; “Every pound (0.5 kilogram) that you are overweight puts about 5 extra pounds (2.25 kilograms) of pressure on your kneecap when you go up and down stairs”; contact your provider if you cannot bear weight, have severe pain even when not bearing weight, the knee buckles, clicks or locks, is deformed, cannot bend or straighten fully, with “a fever, redness or warmth around the knee, or a lot of swelling,” with “pain, swelling, numbness, tingling, or bluish discoloration in the calf below the sore knee,” or still pain after 3 days of home treatment; an MRI “if a ligament or meniscus tear could be the cause.”
10. Murphy L, Schwartz TA, Helmick CG, et al. Lifetime risk of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Arthritis & Rheumatism (Arthritis Care & Research). 2008;59(9):1207–1213. doi:10.1002/art.24021 (PMID 18759314).
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    3,068 adults aged 45 and older in the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project, rural North Carolina: “The lifetime risk of symptomatic knee OA was 44.7%”; 56.8% with a history of knee injury; “Lifetime risk rose with increasing BMI, with a risk of 2 in 3 among those who were obese” (60.5% in its Table 2).
11. Deyle GD, Allen CS, Allison SC, et al. Physical therapy versus glucocorticoid injection for osteoarthritis of the knee. New England Journal of Medicine. 2020;382(15):1420–1429. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1905877 (PMID 32268027).
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    A randomized trial of 156 patients, mean age 56, in primary care in the U.S. Military Health System: at 1 year the WOMAC score was 37.0 after physical therapy and 55.8 after a glucocorticoid injection (0 to 240, lower is better; difference 18.8 points), “a finding favoring physical therapy.”
12. Skou ST, Roos EM, Laursen MB, et al. A randomized, controlled trial of total knee replacement. New England Journal of Medicine. 2015;373(17):1597–1606. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1505467 (PMID 26488691).
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    100 patients in Denmark with moderate-to-severe knee OA who were eligible for a replacement: total knee replacement followed by 12 weeks of nonsurgical treatment, or the 12 weeks alone (exercise, education, dietary advice, insoles and pain medicine, from physiotherapists and dietitians); at 12 months the KOOS4 score improved by 32.5 points after replacement and 16.0 with nonsurgical treatment; serious adverse events 24 vs 6; 13 patients (26%) in the nonsurgical group had a replacement before 12 months, and “most patients who were assigned to receive nonsurgical treatment alone did not undergo total knee replacement before the 12-month follow-up.”
13. Siemieniuk RAC, Harris IA, Agoritsas T, et al. Arthroscopic surgery for degenerative knee arthritis and meniscal tears: a clinical practice guideline. BMJ. 2017;357:j1982. doi:10.1136/bmj.j1982 (PMID 28490431).
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    A BMJ Rapid Recommendation built on linked systematic reviews: “We make a strong recommendation against the use of arthroscopy in nearly all patients with degenerative knee disease”; it “applies to patients with or without imaging evidence of osteoarthritis, mechanical symptoms, or sudden symptom onset”; “Approximately 25% of people older than 50 years experience knee pain from degenerative knee disease”; the trial that prompted it found arthroscopy “no better than exercise therapy” for a degenerative medial meniscus tear.
14. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, OrthoInfo. Knee conditioning program. Checked October 29, 2026.
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    A general program for after an injury or surgery that “should be performed under your doctor’s supervision”; “Strengthening the muscles that support your knee will reduce stress on your knee joint”; continued “for 4 to 6 weeks, unless otherwise specified,” then two to three days a week as maintenance; warm up with 5 to 10 minutes of walking or a stationary bicycle; “You should not feel pain during an exercise”; the half squat, hamstring curl, calf raise, leg extension, straight-leg raise and hip abduction with their repetitions, days per week, tips and resistance (begin with 5 lb. and progress up to 10 lb.), as quoted in the exercise cards.
15. American Physical Therapy Association, ChoosePT. Physical therapy guide to osteoarthritis of the knee. Expert review September 18, 2022. Checked October 29, 2026.
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    Knee OA “may develop over time after a ligament or cartilage injury”; proper treatment “can help people delay or avoid surgery”; symptoms: “Morning stiffness lasting less than 30 minutes,” pain during or after walking, stairs or rising from a chair, stiffness after sitting a long time, popping or grinding, swelling after activity, tenderness along the joint; symptoms may worsen “walking without supportive shoes”; “If you have worsening knee pain that lasts several months and does not improve with rest, see your doctor or physical therapist”; the examination of range of motion, strength, mobility and flexibility; range-of-motion exercises, strengthening of the leg, hip and core, manual therapy with exercise, braces and compression sleeves (“Compression sleeves around the knee may help reduce pain and control swelling”), aquatic therapy, a cane, ice and heat; prehab before surgery; referral to a dietitian; choose a therapist experienced with knee OA or knee replacement, a board-certified clinical specialist or one with a residency or fellowship in orthopedic or geriatric physical therapy, and check that the clinic accepts your health plan.
16. MedlinePlus, US National Library of Medicine. Osteoarthritis. Review date April 9, 2026. Checked October 29, 2026.
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    “Before age 55, OA occurs equally in men and women. After age 55, it is more common in women”; being overweight raises the risk at the knee; jobs with kneeling or squatting “for more than an hour a day,” or lifting, climbing stairs or walking, and sports with direct impact or twisting raise the risk; “Almost everyone has some symptoms of OA by age 70”; stiffness “often lasts for 30 minutes or less”; “As OA gets worse, you may have pain even when you are resting. And it may wake you up at night”; “Some people might not have symptoms, even though x-rays or physical exam show the physical changes of OA”; “Blood tests are not helpful in diagnosing OA”; no more than 4 grams of acetaminophen a day; duloxetine for chronic pain; physical therapy: “If therapy does not make you feel better after 6 to 12 weeks, then it likely will not be helpful”; “Use a brace only when your provider or therapist recommends one. Using a brace the wrong way can cause joint damage, stiffness, and pain”; “Contact your provider if you have symptoms of OA that are bothersome or get worse.”
17. American Physical Therapy Association. Direct access advocacy. “As of July 1, 2025, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have either provisional or unrestricted direct access to physical therapist services for evaluation and treatment”; some provisions tied to treatment without a referral persist in a number of states. Checked October 29, 2026.
18. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, OrthoInfo. Total knee replacement. Checked October 29, 2026.
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    “more than 700,000 total knee replacements are performed annually in the U.S.”; “The most common cause of chronic knee pain and disability is arthritis”; surgery may be recommended for severe pain or stiffness that limits walking, stairs and chairs (“It may be hard to walk more than a few blocks without significant pain”), moderate or severe pain while resting, chronic inflammation and swelling, a knee that bows in or out, and “Failure to substantially improve with other treatments”; “Recommendations for surgery are based on a patient’s pain and disability, not age. Most patients who undergo total knee replacement are aged 50 to 80”; the evaluation includes X-rays; “a dramatic reduction of knee pain,” but it “will not allow you to do more than you could before you developed arthritis”; serious complications such as infection “occur in fewer than 2% of patients”; “more than 90% of modern total knee replacements are still functioning well 15 years after the surgery.”
19. Englund M, Guermazi A, Gale D, et al. Incidental meniscal findings on knee MRI in middle-aged and elderly persons. New England Journal of Medicine. 2008;359(11):1108–1115. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa0800777 (PMID 18784100).
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    991 people aged 50 to 90 in Framingham, Massachusetts, chosen without regard to knee problems: a meniscal tear or destruction on MRI in 19% of women aged 50 to 59 up to 56% of men aged 70 to 90; with X-ray OA, a tear in 63% of those with knee symptoms and 60% of those without; “Sixty-one percent of the subjects who had meniscal tears in their knees had not had any pain, aching, or stiffness during the previous month.”
20. Kirkley A, Birmingham TB, Litchfield RB, et al. A randomized trial of arthroscopic surgery for osteoarthritis of the knee. New England Journal of Medicine. 2008;359(11):1097–1107. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa0708333 (PMID 18784099).
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    178 patients with moderate-to-severe knee OA randomly assigned to arthroscopic lavage and debridement with physical and medical therapy, or physical and medical therapy alone: “Arthroscopic surgery for osteoarthritis of the knee provides no additional benefit to optimized physical and medical therapy” at 2 years.
21. Sihvonen R, Paavola M, Malmivaara A, et al. Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy versus sham surgery for a degenerative meniscal tear. New England Journal of Medicine. 2013;369(26):2515–2524. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1305189 (PMID 24369076).
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    A double-blind, sham-controlled trial of 146 patients aged 35 to 65 with symptoms of a degenerative medial meniscus tear and no knee osteoarthritis: “the outcomes after arthroscopic partial meniscectomy were no better than those after a sham surgical procedure” at 12 months.
22. Pereira TV, Jüni P, Saadat P, et al. Viscosupplementation for knee osteoarthritis: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ. 2022;378:e069722. doi:10.1136/bmj-2022-069722 (PMID 36333100).
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    169 trials, 21,163 participants; in the main analysis of 24 large placebo-controlled trials (8,997 participants) the pain difference was about 2 mm on a 100 mm scale, and in 15 large trials (6,462 participants) serious adverse events were more common (relative risk 1.49); viscosupplementation “leads to a small reduction in knee osteoarthritis pain compared with placebo, but the difference is less than the minimal clinically important between group difference,” and is “associated with an increased risk of serious adverse events”; “The findings do not support broad use of viscosupplementation.”
23. Skou ST, Roos EM. Good Life with osteoArthritis in Denmark (GLA:D™): evidence-based education and supervised neuromuscular exercise delivered by certified physiotherapists nationwide. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders. 2017;18(1):72. doi:10.1186/s12891-017-1439-y (PMID 28173795).
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    Registry data on 9,825 people with knee or hip OA (Table 3: knee n = 7,333, hip n = 2,492) given education and supervised exercise by trained physiotherapists: pain improved by 12.4 points at 3 months and 13.7 points at 12 months (0 to 100) for the whole group; in the adjusted analysis, people with knee OA improved from 48.1 to 34.3 mm at 3 months, more than those with hip OA; the risk of taking painkillers for the knee fell from 55.9% to 36.7% (Table 4); the 40-m fast-paced walk improved by 2.5 seconds at 3 months. A registry without a comparison group.
24. Juhl C, Christensen R, Roos EM, Zhang W, Lund H. Impact of exercise type and dose on pain and disability in knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis of randomized controlled trials. Arthritis & Rheumatology. 2014;66(3):622–636. doi:10.1002/art.38290 (PMID 24574223).
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    48 trials: aerobic, resistance and performance exercise reduced pain similarly; single-type programs did better than mixed programs; “More pain reduction occurred with quadriceps-specific exercise than with lower limb exercise” and when supervised exercise was done at least 3 times a week; the effect of aerobic exercise grew with the number of supervised sessions; “For best results, the program should be supervised and carried out 3 times a week.”
25. Lo GH, Vinod S, Richard MJ, et al. Association between walking for exercise and symptomatic and structural progression in individuals with knee osteoarthritis: data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative cohort. Arthritis & Rheumatology. 2022;74(10):1660–1667. doi:10.1002/art.42241 (PMID 35673832).
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    An observational cohort of 1,212 people aged 50 or older with knee OA: new frequent knee pain was less likely in those who walked for exercise (odds ratio 0.6), and progression of medial joint space narrowing was less common (odds ratio 0.8); “These findings support the notion that walking for exercise should be encouraged for people with knee OA.”
26. Messier SP, Mihalko SL, Legault C, et al. Effects of intensive diet and exercise on knee joint loads, inflammation, and clinical outcomes among overweight and obese adults with knee osteoarthritis: the IDEA randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2013;310(12):1263–1273. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.277669 (PMID 24065013).
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    454 adults aged 55 or older with overweight or obesity and knee OA, 18 months: mean weight loss was 11.4% with diet and exercise, 9.5% with diet and 2.0% with exercise; the diet group had lower knee compressive forces than the exercise group; “The diet + exercise group had less pain ... and better function” than both other groups.
27. McAlindon TE, LaValley MP, Harvey WF, et al. Effect of intra-articular triamcinolone vs saline on knee cartilage volume and pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2017;317(19):1967–1975. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.5283 (PMID 28510679).
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    140 patients, mean age 58, with symptomatic knee OA and synovitis, given triamcinolone or saline every 12 weeks for 2 years: the steroid group lost more cartilage (−0.21 mm vs −0.10 mm) with “no significant difference in knee pain”; “These findings do not support this treatment.”
28. Bennell KL, Paterson KL, Metcalf BR, et al. Effect of intra-articular platelet-rich plasma vs placebo injection on pain and medial tibial cartilage volume in patients with knee osteoarthritis: the RESTORE randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2021;326(20):2021–2030. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.19415 (PMID 34812863).
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    288 people aged 50 or older with mild to moderate medial knee OA in Sydney and Melbourne, given 3 weekly injections of PRP or saline: at 12 months, no significant difference in knee pain or in cartilage volume on MRI; “These findings do not support use of PRP for the management of knee OA.”
29. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Physical therapy services (Medicare.gov). Checked October 29, 2026.
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    “After the Part B deductible, you pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount”; a doctor or other provider (including a nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist or physician assistant) “must certify that you need it”; “There’s no limit on how much Medicare pays for your medically necessary outpatient therapy services in one calendar year.”
30. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Therapy services. The 2026 KX modifier thresholds: “$2,480 for PT and SLP services combined, and $2,480 for OT services”; the targeted medical review process continues “at a lower threshold amount of $3,000.” Checked October 29, 2026.
31. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Compare Original Medicare & Medicare Advantage (Medicare.gov). “Plans must cover all medically necessary services that Original Medicare covers”; you may need approval (prior authorization) or a referral, and may need to use providers in the plan’s network. Checked October 29, 2026.

Medical disclaimer. This page is for general educational purposes and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider about your individual situation. Seek urgent medical attention for any of the symptoms listed above.