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California: one knee, three prices

What Medicare pays California hospitals and surgery centers for knee, hip and shoulder replacement, what hospitals list, and which cost the most and the least.

Surgery center
$10,558
Median Medicare knee rate, 336 orthopedic surgery centers
Hospital, same day
$16,148
Median Medicare allowed amount
Hospital, overnight
$20,302
Median avg total payment (incl. patient share), 119 hospitals

California has no certificate-of-need law.

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Lowest average total payment per stay

HospitalCityInpatient avg total paymentList priceOutpatient allowed
Palomar Medical Center PowayPoway$11,129$104,858$11,347
Usc Arcadia HospitalArcadia$15,910$111,398$15,876
Palomar Health Downtown CampusEscondido$16,513$108,981$9,770
Docs Surgical HospitalLos Angeles$17,383$115,341$16,148
Hoag Orthopedic InstituteIrvine$17,493$85,751$15,979
Fresno Surgical HospitalFresno$17,513$51,937$15,992
Casa Colina HospitalPomona$17,619$73,137$16,148
Uci Health-Los AlamitosLos Alamitos$17,632$217,971$15,971
Adventist Health Simi ValleySimi Valley$17,737$129,283$15,997
French Hospital Medical CenterSan Luis Obispo$17,925$105,063$16,045

Highest average total payment per stay

HospitalCityInpatient avg total paymentList priceOutpatient allowed
Lac/Harbor-Ucla Med CenterTorrance$37,686$58,888—
Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hosp & Trauma CtrSan Francisco$33,951$156,918—
Ucsf Medical CenterSan Francisco$32,373$149,465$18,418
Stanford Health CareStanford$30,883$250,769$18,461
Sutter Solano Medical CenterVallejo$30,014$109,459—
Uci Health-OrangeOrange$29,813$115,370$15,688
Loma Linda University Medical CenterLoma Linda$29,131$164,082$16,148
Santa Clara Valley Medical CenterSan Jose$28,442$91,504$18,490
Uc San Diego Health Hillcrest - Hillcrest Med CtrSan Diego$28,202$122,076$16,094
Sutter Medical Center, SacramentoSacramento$27,192$106,114$18,187

Every California hospital (183)

Orthopedic surgery centers (336)

Questions

How much does Medicare pay for a knee replacement in California?

In 2024 the median average total payment to California hospitals was $20,302 per Medicare inpatient hip or knee replacement stay (MS-DRG 470, 119 hospitals; Medicare's payment plus the patient's share), and the median Medicare allowed amount was $16,148 per outpatient case. An orthopedic surgery center is paid about $10,558 for a knee.

Which California hospitals have the lowest Medicare payment for a joint replacement?

Palomar Medical Center Poway ($11,129), Usc Arcadia Hospital ($15,910), Palomar Health Downtown Campus ($16,513) (average total payment per inpatient stay, patient share included).

What do California hospitals list for a joint replacement?

The median list (chargemaster) price is $121,434, about 6.0× the median average total payment for a Medicare stay.

Does California have a certificate-of-need law?

California has no certificate-of-need law. No certificate of need program; the state repealed its CON law in 1987.