How much does a hip or knee replacement cost?

In the United States, hospital-based hip or knee replacement carries a list price that averages around $40,000 and can reach $100,000 depending on facility, implant, and length of stay. In Hawai‘i specifically, total knee replacement averages around $40,740 versus a national average near $32,570 — paradise carries a premium (see the Honolulu-specific breakdown).

But list price is not your price. What you pay depends entirely on the path: insured, Medicare, or self-pay — and Dr. Paul Morton's office in Honolulu verifies your benefits and gives you a written estimate before anything is scheduled.

About these figures: the market numbers above are published hospital list-price averages and typical ranges, not this practice's prices. They change every year and vary by facility, implant, and length of stay, so treat them as orientation. Medicare's public Procedure Price Lookup tool (medicare.gov) shows the surgery-center versus hospital-outpatient difference for a specific procedure; your own number comes from a written estimate after benefits verification.

A joint replacement bill has five main components:

With commercial insurance, your exposure is your deductible plus co-insurance up to your plan's out-of-pocket maximum — for many patients, a few thousand dollars for the entire episode, sometimes less late in a plan year when deductibles are already met. Medicare covers joint replacement as a standard benefit; supplemental plans often shrink the remainder to very little (Medicare specifics here). The practice verifies your benefits and gives you an estimate before surgery — surprises are a billing failure, not a fact of life.

Three paths, three very different bills for the identical operation. Which one fits you?

The single biggest cost lever is whether you stay overnight. Same-day outpatient surgery runs leaner than an inpatient hospital stay — no hospital bed, no overnight nursing, a shorter facility stay — and for self-pay patients the difference is dramatic: Dr. Morton's bundled packages (surgeon + facility + anesthesia + implant + a year of follow-ups) run roughly half of hospital list pricing. Modern rapid-recovery protocols are what make same-day discharge safe for qualified patients — the savings are a byproduct of better surgery, not a discount version of it.

Wherever you have surgery, ask these:

One number rarely makes the spreadsheet: what delay costs. Years of injections, braces, imaging, and lost activity add up — and joints don't get cheaper to fix as they deteriorate; the quad weakens and deformity progresses, which makes eventual surgery and recovery harder. If pain is already limiting your life despite conservative care, a consultation prices out your actual options — a robotic hip replacement or knee replacement, a partial knee, or another year on the non-surgical ladder — with real numbers instead of internet averages.

What the office needs to produce a real estimate: your insurance card and plan type (or a note that you're self-pay), any prior X-rays or MRI, and your therapy and injection history. The team verifies benefits, confirms whether same-day outpatient surgery is an option for your case, and gives you a written estimate before anything is scheduled. Call (808) 439-6201 or book online — clinics in Honolulu (Ala Moana), West O‘ahu (Kunia), Hilo and Kona, and most new patients are seen within one to two weeks. Managed-care and Medicaid/Quest plans need a referral from your primary care physician, which the office helps arrange; neighbor island patients can start by telehealth when an in-person visit isn't practical.