# Hip or knee replacement (hospital stay): what BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee pays, by state

The whole hospital stay for a hip or knee joint replacement, without major complications - the most common inpatient surgery.

- Insurer: BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee
- Billing code: 470 (Hospital stays (inpatient))
- Price shown: negotiated in-network price, hospital stay, facility fee
- Prices as of: 2026-09-27
- All of the insurer's plans pooled; the map also shows single networks

| State | Providers | Lowest | 25th pct | Median | 75th pct | Highest | Medicare pays | Median vs Medicare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 3 | $29,919.82 | $30,708.59 | $31,613.67 | $33,164.47 | $33,379.71 | $14,554.97 | 2.2x Medicare |
| Arkansas | 1 | $24,970.61 | $26,075.56 | $28,228.64 | $35,041.48 | $50,125.72 | $12,966.17 | 2.2x Medicare |
| Georgia | 1 | $47,713.96 | $47,713.96 | $47,713.96 | $47,713.96 | $47,713.96 | $16,510.65 | 2.9x Medicare |
| Mississippi | 3 | $24,970.61 | $28,228.64 | $32,085.60 | $41,774.11 | $53,195.25 | $13,518.55 | 2.4x Medicare |
| Tennessee | 97 | $20,320.88 | $31,094.96 | $36,959.93 | $47,042.93 | $218,960.15 | $14,538.56 | 2.5x Medicare |

**“x Medicare”** compares each price with what original Medicare actually paid hospitals in the same state for the same kind of stay in 2024, the newest year it has published: the average per stay, the patient’s share included, at hospitals with more than ten such stays. Medicare’s payment varies by hospital (wages, teaching, low-income patients), so this is a state average, not any one hospital’s rate. Insurers write their contracts as a share of Medicare, so 1.3x means the insurer pays 30% more than Medicare would; Medicare Advantage plans generally pay close to 1.0x.

Prices are what the insurer has agreed to pay, not what you will be billed. This is a statewide summary: prices vary far more between towns and between practices than these medians suggest, and "providers" counts everyone with a contracted price, not only those who perform the procedure.

Map: https://medicalpricetransparency.netlify.app/insurers/bcbstn/statemap_470_US.html  
About this insurer's data, and its other procedures: [index.md](index.md)