How Much Does Hip or Knee Replacement Cost in 2026?
Hip or knee replacement costs $25,000-$50,000 uninsured, $35,000 average. With insurance, out-of-pocket runs $2,500-$8,500 depending on your deductible.
What’s included in joint replacement cost
Joint replacement involves more cost categories than most surgical procedures because it spans the pre-surgical evaluation, the inpatient admission, and a substantial post-discharge rehabilitation period — each billed separately.
The pre-surgical workup includes laboratory tests, EKG, chest X-ray, and clearance visits with your primary care doctor and any specialists managing comorbidities (cardiologist, pulmonologist). This phase typically costs $500-$2,000 and is often covered under your medical benefit as office visits and labs.
The surgical admission covers the facility fee for the operating room and hospital rooms, the surgeon’s professional fee, the implant and all surgical components, anesthesia (typically spinal or general), and physical therapy during the hospital stay (typically 1-3 sessions before discharge). This is where the $25,000-$50,000 figure lives.
Post-discharge rehabilitation is a substantial additional cost not in the surgical quote. Options include inpatient skilled nursing facility (SNF) rehabilitation at $400-$900 per day for those who need 24-hour nursing, home health physical therapy at $150-$300 per visit covered by Medicare for homebound patients, and outpatient physical therapy at $100-$350 per session for 6-12 weeks. Medicare covers SNF rehabilitation for up to 100 days with medical necessity.
Durable medical equipment — walker, crutches, shower chair, elevated toilet seat — runs $150-$400 and is often covered as a DME benefit. Blood thinners prescribed for 2-6 weeks post-surgery to prevent clots cost $50-$300 depending on the agent used.
When you’ll pay more than average
The $35,000 average reflects a standard total knee replacement at a community hospital with a 2-3 night stay and no complications. Costs exceed this with hip over knee (typically $5,000-$10,000 more at list price), a major teaching hospital in a high-cost metro, an inpatient stay extending beyond 3 nights due to medical complications, any ICU care, or bilateral (both joints) replacement in the same admission.
Revision surgery is in an entirely different cost category. When a replaced joint fails due to infection, loosening, polyethylene wear, or instability, revision procedures run $40,000-$75,000 and involve more complex implant systems, longer operating times, and greater anesthesia risk. Insurance coverage for revision surgery follows the same medical necessity criteria as primary replacement, but the financial exposure is higher.
How insurance changes the math
The difference between a $35,000 list-price procedure and what you actually pay is driven almost entirely by your insurance coverage structure. Understanding three numbers before surgery substantially reduces financial anxiety: your annual deductible (what you pay first), your coinsurance rate (your percentage after the deductible), and your out-of-pocket maximum (the hard stop on your exposure for the calendar year).
For most commercially insured patients, joint replacement consumes the entire annual deductible and some coinsurance — but the out-of-pocket max caps total exposure. A patient with a $3,000 deductible, 20% coinsurance, and a $7,000 out-of-pocket max will pay at most $7,000 regardless of how complex the surgery or rehabilitation becomes.
The strategic lever: schedule surgery early in the calendar year so that post-surgical physical therapy, any complication management, and other healthcare expenses accumulate against the same year’s out-of-pocket maximum. Patients who have surgery in December often face a deductible reset in January before rehabilitation concludes.
When you’ll pay less
Low-risk patients — younger, healthy BMI, no significant cardiac history, strong family support at home — should ask their orthopedic surgeon whether outpatient joint replacement at an ambulatory surgery center is appropriate. Facility cost savings of 20-40% are real, and for the right patient profile, outcomes data is comparable to inpatient surgery.
Uninsured patients should contact the hospital’s financial counseling office before surgery. Prompt-pay cash discounts of 20-40% on the total bill are commonly available. Hospitals are also required to make charity care available to qualifying patients; income thresholds vary by facility.
This page is informational and is not medical advice. Consult a licensed orthopedic surgeon for advice on your specific situation.
Cost Factors
- Joint replaced
- Total knee replacement runs $25,000-$40,000 all-in at list price. Total hip replacement runs $28,000-$50,000 due to a more complex implant system and slightly longer operative time. Partial knee replacement (unicompartmental) is a more limited procedure costing $18,000-$30,000 for eligible patients.
- Implant brand and material
- The implant itself accounts for $3,000-$8,000 of the total bill. Standard cobalt-chromium-polyethylene implants are at the lower end. Highly cross-linked polyethylene, oxidized zirconium, or modular revision components run at the higher end. Implant selection is primarily clinical, not cosmetic.
- Facility type
- Hospital inpatient settings with a 1-3 night stay are the traditional and most expensive setting. Ambulatory surgery centers and outpatient hospital programs for selected low-risk patients cost 20-40% less and have comparable outcomes for appropriate candidates. Not all patients qualify — BMI, cardiac history, anemia, and at-home support are selection factors.
- Insurance deductible and out-of-pocket maximum
- Medicare and most commercial plans cover joint replacement as medically necessary. Patient cost is typically the annual deductible ($1,500-$4,000) plus coinsurance up to the out-of-pocket maximum ($4,000-$9,000). Patients who hit their out-of-pocket max in the surgery year are protected from additional cost-sharing for the remainder of that calendar year.
- Geographic market
- Major metropolitan hospitals in New York, San Francisco, and Boston price 30-60% above the national average for joint replacement. Rural and mid-size city hospitals typically price near or below the national average. The implant and surgeon fee vary less geographically than facility fees.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does insurance actually cover joint replacement?
Medicare Part A covers hospital admission for joint replacement including the surgeon fee, implant, anesthesia, physical therapy during the stay, and short-term skilled nursing or inpatient rehab if medically necessary. Commercial insurance covers joint replacement when conservative treatment has failed and imaging confirms significant joint deterioration. Pre-authorization is always required — your orthopedic surgeon's office handles this paperwork.
What will I actually owe out-of-pocket with insurance?
With Medicare and a Medigap supplement, many patients owe $500-$2,000 for the hospitalization. Without Medigap, Medicare's hospital coinsurance can result in $2,000-$5,000 exposure for a stay exceeding 60 days. With commercial insurance, expect to pay your deductible and any coinsurance up to your plan's annual out-of-pocket maximum, typically $3,000-$8,500. Timing surgery early in the calendar year maximizes the chance that post-op physical therapy expenses count toward the same year's maximum.
Is robotic-assisted surgery more expensive?
Robotic-assisted systems like MAKO and Navio are in use at many facilities. Surgeons rarely charge extra for robotic assistance, and most facilities absorb the technology cost into their standard facility fee. Verify with your specific hospital before assuming no extra charge. Clinical data shows robotic guidance improves implant positioning accuracy, which correlates with better long-term outcomes and lower revision rates.
What does revision surgery cost if the first replacement fails?
Revision joint replacement runs $40,000-$75,000 or more, substantially higher than the primary procedure. Revisions are technically harder, take longer, and use more complex modular implant components. Most insurance covers revisions under the same medical necessity criteria as primary replacement, but out-of-pocket exposure is higher due to longer hospital stays and potentially multiple surgical stages.
Last updated 2026-05-24.