For total medical expenditures, mean per-person expenditures for osteoarthritis and allied disorders were $11,029 average for the years 2008 to 2011. Aggregate medical expenditures for the estimated 30.8 million persons with osteoarthritis and allied disorders in the United States averaged $340 billion in each of the years 2008 to 2011.
MEPS provides estimates of actual medical expenditures, meaning money changing hands, rather than medical charges, which are based on what is originally billed but rarely paid in full. Thus, the term direct costs as used here reflects actual medical expenditures.
While the need for a joint replacement in a sense represents a failure of measures to prevent the occurrence or progression of joint problems, for those with the severe pain or poor function of end-stage joint problems, it can represent a life-altering “cure.” Joint replacement procedures for hips and knees are most common, but replacements have been expanding to other joint sites over the past few years. Joint replacements represent one of the fastest growing procedures in the United States.
