Home › Blog › Cost May Be One Reason to Look for A Knee Replacement Alternative

How much does a knee replacement cost? I don’t usually quote financial sites on this blog, but one just did such a great job of putting the outrageous costs of knee or hip replacement in perspective, I couldn’t resist. At more than 50K, cost many be one reason to look for a knee replacement alternative.

The writer looked at the average cost of a knee or hip replacement and compared that whopper $50,105 cost to the average income in all 50 states. She also adjusted that mean cost of the surgery by state. 18 US states had knee or hip replacement costs that exceeded their average annual income. Perhaps more disturbing is that 7 in 10 Americans don’t have enough saved to cover the cost in retirement. Even if the surgery is covered by a solvent Medicare program, the 20% out of pocket costs would completely or substantially drain the life savings of 60% of Americans. Is it time for less a invasive knee replacement alternative?

In which states does the cost of the procedure exceed income? Is yours on the list?

1. Alabama

2. Arizona

3. California

4. Colorado-This is us! Yikes!

5. Florida

6. Georgia

7. Indiana

8. Louisiana

9. Mississippi

10. Missouri

11. Nevada

12. New Jersey

13. New Mexico

14. Oklahoma

15. Pennsylvania

16. South Carolina

17. Tennessee

18. Texas

The upshot? Hip replacement and knee replacement cost is a whole lot more than a hip and knee replacement alternative like platelet and stem cell injections!

Chris Centeno, MD is a specialist in regenerative medicine and the new field of Interventional Orthopedics. Centeno pioneered orthopedic stem cell procedures in 2005 and is responsible for a large amount of the published research on stem cell use for orthopedic applications. View Profile