The costs of hip and knee replacement surgeries were considerably higher in the United States than in other industrialized countries in 2012, according to a report from the International Federation of Health Plans.
The U.S. average for all hospital and physician costs was $40,364 for hip replacement and $25,637 for knee replacement. The next most expensive country for both surgeries was Australia, where the total cost averaged $27,810 for hip replacement and $22,421 for knee replacement. The least most expensive country included in the survey was Argentina, where hip replacement cost $3,365 and knee replacement averaged $3,192 last year, according to the IFHP.
The IFHP consists of over 80 companies in 25 countries. For the survey, costs for each country were submitted by participating member plans. Some are drawn from the public sector, some from the private, and some from both. Costs for the United States are aggregates based on a database of over 100 million claims paid by multiple health plans.
