I read this thread and I'm amazed that so many people went home alone following knee replacement.
I definitely would prefer to be alone. I've put off knee replacement for years because I really, really, really do NOT want to go a nursing home. I live alone in a one bedroom apartment and I really don't want someone staying with me either, even if I knew someone who would, which I don't.
But when I was looking into knee replacement years ago, Kaiser made it clear that if you don't have someone to stay with you, you have to go a nursing home. (Needless to say, they don't pay for it or even help you find one, except in the rare event you have complications requiring it).
I don't see why I couldn't go home, there is an elevator in my building and to me it seems like all you really need to be able to do it make it to the bathroom and back. Maybe things have changed. If Kaiser still has this policy I might try to switch insurance to something else. Just wondering how you even find out. Kaiser makes its own rules, but otherwise, is it the doctor or the hospital who decides?
Of course Kaiser is going to want to send you home from the hospital as soon as possible to save money, so that makes it even more likely they won't let you go home alone. I'd rather pay for a few extra days in the hospital than go to a nursing home, but of course I know Medicare would never allow that.