When looking into joint replacements, such as total knee replacements it’s no surprise that it can be extremely costly.
And by extremely costly we’re talking about the $50,000 dollar range.
A partial knee replacement is much cheaper but still about 10%-20% of a total knee replacement cost.
And yes, this is a general price if you do not have insurance.
Insurance can bring the cost down to around $15,000-$30,000 dollars.
I think the real question we should be asking here is “Can most Americans afford this kind of procedure?”
For the most part, the answer is no.
At least they can’t afford it outright.
Many would have to take out a loan, go into debt, and pay far beyond the initial cost when interest is calculated into the payments.
With the median household income being just shy of $60,000, is knee replacement surgery really the best option?
In some cases a knee replacement may be unavoidable.
But could stem cell injections be a positive, less costly alternative for people?
Let’s take a look.
Depending on the kind of stem cells and growth factors injected, stem cell treatments can vary in cost.
Amniotic fluid and umbilical cord cells are generally the least expensive.
Same day bone marrow and fat procedures are a bit of a mid tier price.
And culture expanded stem cells can be some of the most expensive.
The first two generally sit in the $4,000 to $8,000 range.
Platelet Rich Plasma procedures can range from $1,000-$2,000.
Culture expanded treatments are not legal to perform in the U.S. at the moment so they are especially pricey ranging in the $15,000-$30,000 range.
These numbers are just the national averages you can find online and many factors will go into the cost of a treatment but overall we can see that some of them, based on price alone could be a much better alternative to a knee replacement.
Maybe something to think about before going under the knife?
