Vein and Knee Pain Statistics: New York and the US

Every figure below comes from one of our three studies, which explain the method and limits in full. Each figure names its source and period. The data behind this page is free to download (see the end of the page).

Varicose vein procedures in Medicare

• New York clinicians performed 19,131 varicose vein closure procedures (ablation, adhesive closure and foam injections) paid by Original Medicare in 2024, up 26.7% from 15,100 in 2019. Source: CMS Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners by Geography and Service, 2024. From our Medicare varicose vein procedures study.
• Nationally, Original Medicare paid for 293,549 of these procedures in 2024, up 11.7% from 2019. Source: CMS Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners by Geography and Service, 2024. From our Medicare varicose vein procedures study.
• That is 124.7 procedures per 10,000 Original Medicare Part B enrollees in New York and 104.9 nationally. Source: CMS Geography and Service data and CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, 2024; Fox Vein Care calculation. From our Medicare varicose vein procedures study.
• New York ranks 10th of the 50 states by that rate. Arizona is highest, at 260.4 per 10,000. Source: CMS Geography and Service data and CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, 2024; Fox Vein Care calculation. From our Medicare varicose vein procedures study.
• 97.3% of New York’s procedures were billed as office procedures in 2024 (US: 95.0%). Source: CMS Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners by Geography and Service, 2024. From our Medicare varicose vein procedures study.
• Foam injections made up 53.2% of New York’s procedures in 2024 (US: 41.6%), while laser ablation in New York fell 60.4% from 2019 to 2024. Source: CMS Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners by Geography and Service, 2024. From our Medicare varicose vein procedures study.
• Original Medicare paid New York clinicians $20.8 million for these procedures in 2024, including extra-vein add-on codes (US: $280.3 million). Source: CMS Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners by Geography and Service, 2024. From our Medicare varicose vein procedures study.
• These counts leave out Medicare Advantage: 52.1% of New York’s Medicare enrollees were in Medicare Advantage or other plans in 2024. Source: CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, 2024.

Varicose vein closure procedures paid by Original Medicare, by the state where the clinician practices, 2024. Rate: procedures per 10,000 Original Medicare Part B enrollees, the basis of the ranking. States with the same rate share a rank. CMS withholds counts based on 10 or fewer patients and those are counted as zero, so small-state totals are minimums.

Arthritis in New York City

• 19.9% of New York City adults, about 1,405,700 people, have been told they have some form of arthritis (19.2% after adjusting for age), 2023. Source: CDC PLACES, 2025 release (2023 survey data). From our NYC arthritis neighborhood study.
• By borough, before age adjustment: Staten Island 24.4%, Bronx 23.0%, Brooklyn 20.7%, Queens 20.4%, Manhattan 20.3%. Source: CDC PLACES, 2025 release (2023 survey data). From our NYC arthritis neighborhood study.
• After age adjustment, Bronx is highest (21.2%) and Queens lowest (17.4%). Source: CDC PLACES, 2025 release (2023 survey data). From our NYC arthritis neighborhood study.
• In Manhattan, about 280,400 adults have been told they have arthritis (20.3%). Source: CDC PLACES, 2025 release (2023 survey data). From our NYC arthritis neighborhood study.
• Across Manhattan’s 32 residential neighborhoods, the estimate runs from 12.0% in Financial District-Battery Park City to 24.9% in Upper East Side-Carnegie Hill. Source: Fox Vein Care calculation from CDC PLACES census tract estimates, 2023. From our NYC arthritis neighborhood study.
• Across Manhattan’s 304 census tracts, single-tract estimates run from 4.6% to 34.5%. Source: CDC PLACES census tract data, 2025 release. From our NYC arthritis neighborhood study.
• Across all 197 residential neighborhoods in the city, the estimate runs from 8.8% in Long Island City-Hunters Point to 29.9% in Spring Creek-Starrett City. Source: Fox Vein Care calculation from CDC PLACES census tract estimates, 2023. From our NYC arthritis neighborhood study.
• Among Manhattan ZIP codes, 10039 has the highest estimate (24.5%) and 10005 the lowest (9.1%). Source: CDC PLACES ZCTA data, 2023. From our NYC arthritis neighborhood study.

CDC PLACES county estimates, 2023. Adults with arthritis rounded to the nearest 100.

Insurance coverage of genicular artery embolization (GAE)

• None of the 8 published insurer and benefit-manager policies we read covers GAE for knee osteoarthritis. Five call it experimental, investigational or unproven, and three call it not medically necessary. Source: Each organization’s published policy, read November 12, 2026. From our GAE insurance coverage tracker.
• Two of these positions take effect after November 12, 2026: Carelon Medical Benefits Management (Elevance Health) on November 15, 2026 and UnitedHealthcare on December 1, 2026. UnitedHealthcare also adds prior authorization for CPT code 37242, the code generally used to bill GAE, from the same date. Source: Each organization’s published policy, read November 12, 2026. From our GAE insurance coverage tracker.
• Original Medicare has no national or local coverage determination that names GAE. Its general embolization policy is national coverage determination 20.28, “Therapeutic Embolization.” Source: CMS Medicare Coverage Database, checked November 12, 2026. From our GAE insurance coverage tracker.
• The Society of Interventional Radiology published a position statement on GAE for knee osteoarthritis on May 12, 2026, supporting it as an option for some patients and calling for larger randomized controlled trials. A medical society statement is not an insurance policy. Source: Society of Interventional Radiology press release, May 12, 2026.

Each organization’s published position on GAE for knee osteoarthritis, read November 12, 2026. Policies change often; check with your own plan before treatment.

How these figures were checked

• Each figure comes from one of our studies: varicose vein procedures in Medicare, arthritis in New York City neighborhoods and the GAE insurance coverage tracker. Each study page explains its method and limits.
• This page has its own independent check. On November 12, 2026 it re-ran the coverage tracker’s check (every policy downloaded again from the payer’s site) and the arthritis study’s check, recomputed the Medicare figures and the 50-state table from CMS’s bulk files, and confirmed the SIR statement date on SIR’s site. Every figure matched.
• These are population, Medicare billing and insurance coverage figures. They do not say whether any treatment will work for a given person, and they are not medical, legal or insurance advice.

Sources

• CMS, Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners by Geography and Service, data years 2019 and 2024.
• CMS, Medicare Monthly Enrollment, 2024.
• CDC, PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, 2025 release (county, place, census tract and ZCTA data).
• Published medical policies of UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Cigna (EviCore), Carelon (Elevance Health), HCSC, Evolent, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and Priority Health, linked in the table above.
• CMS Medicare Coverage Database.
• Society of Interventional Radiology, position statement press release, May 12, 2026.

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