Publication: The Australian
Section: Health and Science
Date: 23 October 2010
RELATED TO: Joint replacements, which are covered by health funds under hospital cover, provided that your level of hospital cover includes these procedures.
Article excerpt:
Knee replacements increased by 3.5 per cent, reaching 40,675 last year, while almost 34,000 hip replacements were carried out in the period, a 3.7 per cent rise in that operation. Since 2003, total knee replacements have risen by 56 per cent and hip replacements are up 32.5 per cent.
While the increase in full joint replacements follows advances in prosthetic devises, it coincides with a drop in bone preservation surgery, such as hip resurfacing and partial knee replacements.
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According to Mercer (head surgeon at the Orthopaedic and Arthroplastic Unit at Repatriation General Hospital in Adelaide), the cost of a first-time replacement differs from state to state and average waiting times in public hospitals can vary from 12 months to two years.
For private healthcare patients the total care package varies again, depending on what they choose to spend on the prosthetic device. Most costs are covered by Medicare, with gap payments ranging from nothing to $500.
Article Summary:
Case study on Cynthia and Andreas Pieri and how their decision to replace their knees improved their quality of life.
Pricing of join replacement devices by state and the expectation that the need for them will double in the next decade due to the ageing population, pushing up health care costs.
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