What non-surgical knee care may cost you

Insurance rules can change what you pay

Ask whether you need a referral from your regular doctor. Check whether the health plan limits exercise visits. A brace may need to come from an approved seller. Don't accept the word “covered” without asking what you will owe.

QC Kinetix explains the knee care and its price

Biologic therapies at QC Kinetix use something taken from your own body. With concentrated PRP, or platelet-rich plasma, that something is blood. Spinning the sample separates the part with more platelets. A medical provider, the trained person doing the care, uses that portion for the knee shot.

Before care starts, request the full price in writing. Ask how many visits the clinic plans and what happens at each one. Check whether follow-up visits cost more. You'll then know what the full period of care includes.

A written price makes the choice easier

The clinic price needs to list each planned part of your care. Check whether later visits are included in that amount. Compare the written price with the answer from your health plan. If the answers don't match, call both before you book.

Sources

1. A lifetime cost-effectiveness analysis using the Osteoarthritis Policy Model found total knee replacement in patients with a BMI of 40 or greater increased quality-adjusted life-years by 0.71 and lifetime medical costs by USD 25,200 in those aged 50-65, giving an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of USD 35,200 per QALY; in those older than 65 it added 0.39 QALYs and USD 21,100 in costs. Higher complication risk in this population does not by itself make the operation poor value.

   Chen AT, Bronsther CI, Stanley EE, et al. — The Value of Total Knee Replacement in Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis and a Body Mass Index of 40 kg/m(2) or Greater : A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.. Annals of Internal Medicine, 2021. DOI: 10.7326/M20-4722.

2. OARSI 2019 designates arthritis education plus structured land-based exercise (with or without dietary weight management) as CORE treatments for knee OA, and education plus structured land-based exercise as core for hip and polyarticular OA. Topical NSAIDs are strongly recommended for knee OA (Level 1A). Intra-articular corticosteroids and hyaluronic acid are Level 1B/2 for knee OA depending on comorbidity and are NOT recommended for hip or polyarticular OA. Oral NSAIDs are not recommended for people with cardiovascular comorbidity or frailty, and oral and transdermal opioids are strongly not recommended (Level 5).

   Bannuru RR, Osani MC, Vaysbrot EE, et al. — OARSI guidelines for the non-surgical management of knee, hip, and polyarticular osteoarthritis.. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, 2019. DOI: 10.1016/j.joca.2019.06.011.

3. The 2019 ACR/Arthritis Foundation guideline makes STRONG recommendations for exercise, weight loss in people with knee and/or hip OA who are overweight or obese, self-efficacy and self-management programs, tai chi, cane use, tibiofemoral bracing for tibiofemoral knee OA, topical NSAIDs for knee OA, oral NSAIDs, and intra-articular glucocorticoid injections for knee OA. Radiofrequency ablation for knee OA, acupuncture, thermal modalities, acetaminophen, duloxetine and tramadol are only CONDITIONAL recommendations.

   Kolasinski SL, Neogi T, Hochberg MC, et al. — 2019 American College of Rheumatology/Arthritis Foundation Guideline for the Management of Osteoarthritis of the Hand, Hip, and Knee.. Arthritis & Rheumatology, 2020. DOI: 10.1002/art.41142.

4. FDA states directly that regenerative medicine therapies - including stem cells, stromal vascular fraction, umbilical cord blood, amniotic fluid, Wharton's jelly, ortho-biologics and exosomes - have NOT been approved for the treatment of any orthopedic condition, naming osteoarthritis, tendonitis, disc disease, tennis elbow, back pain, hip pain, knee pain, neck pain and shoulder pain. FDA further states that being charged for these products, or being offered them outside an FDA-overseen clinical trial, means a patient is likely being deceived and offered a product illegally, and that a product's presence on clinicaltrials.gov or a firm's FDA registration does not mean the product is legally marketed. Reported harms include blindness, tumor formation, neurological events and life-threatening bacterial infections.

   US Food and Drug Administration, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research — Important Patient and Consumer Information About Regenerative Medicine Therapies. FDA.gov, 2021.

5. In October 2018 the FTC settled charges that a California physician and two companies he controlled deceptively advertised that 'amniotic stem cell therapy' could treat serious diseases including Parkinson's disease, autism, macular degeneration, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and OSTEOARTHRITIS without competent and reliable scientific evidence. The defendants earned at least USD 3.31 million between 2014 and 2017, with initial injections priced at USD 9,500 to USD 15,000 and follow-up 'booster' treatments at USD 5,000 to USD 8,000. The order imposed a partially suspended USD 3.31 million judgment and required patient notification within 30 days.

   US Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Consumer Protection — FTC Stops Deceptive Health Claims by a Stem Cell Therapy Clinic. FTC.gov press release, 2018.

6. The 2023 ACR/AAHKS timing guideline conditionally recommends AGAINST delaying hip or knee arthroplasty to pursue additional non-operative treatment - physical therapy, NSAIDs, ambulatory aids or intra-articular injections - in patients with moderate-to-severe osteoarthritis for whom non-operative therapy has already been ineffective and who have chosen surgery. It conditionally recommends delay for nicotine cessation and for better glycemic control in diabetes, states that obesity by itself is not a reason for delay while weight loss should be strongly encouraged, and conditionally recommends against delay in patients with severe deformity or bone loss. Evidence for all recommendations was graded low or very low quality.

   Hannon CP, Goodman SM, Austin MS, et al. — 2023 American College of Rheumatology and American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons Clinical Practice Guideline for the Optimal Timing of Elective Hip or Knee Arthroplasty for Patients With Symptomatic Moderate-to-Severe Osteoarthritis or Advanced Symptomatic Osteonecrosis With Secondary Arthritis for Whom Nonoperative Therapy Is Ineffective.. Arthritis & Rheumatology, 2023. DOI: 10.1002/art.42630.

7. Medicare's national coverage policy states that CMS covers autologous platelet-rich plasma ONLY for patients with chronic non-healing diabetic, pressure and/or venous wounds, and only within an approved coverage-with-evidence-development clinical study. There is no Medicare national coverage for PRP in knee osteoarthritis, which is why these injections are billed to the patient as cash-pay.

   Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — Autologous Platelet-rich Plasma (Coverage with Evidence Development). CMS.gov, 2024.

8. A cross-sectional study contacted 273 of 317 US centres offering direct-to-consumer stem-cell therapy, posing as a 57-year-old man with knee OA. The mean advertised price of a unilateral same-day stem-cell knee injection was $5,156 (SD $2,446), and centres claimed a mean clinical efficacy of 82% (SD 9.6%) — a figure with no support in the published evidence.

   Piuzzi NS, Ng M, Chughtai M, et al. — The Stem-Cell Market for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: A Patient Perspective.. Journal of Knee Surgery, 2018. DOI: 10.1055/s-0037-1604443.

9. In January 2025 the FTC and the Georgia Attorney General obtained federal court orders permanently BANNING the co-founders of the Stem Cell Institute of America and related companies from marketing stem cell therapy, plus $5,155,146 in civil penalties and consumer refunds. The court found on summary judgment that the defendants published false and misleading advertisements about the efficacy and approval of stem cell injections for conditions including osteoarthritis; the affiliated clinic had charged up to $5,000 per injection, almost exclusively to elderly and disabled consumers.

   Federal Trade Commission — Stem Cell Institute Co-Founders and Companies Banned from Marketing Stem Cell Treatments and Ordered to Pay More Than $5.1 Million for Refunds and Civil Penalties. FTC Press Release, 2025.