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Glaucoma Drainage Gel Implant Placement

North Carolina rates for HCPCS 0449T

A surgeon places a soft, flexible tube-like implant inside the eye to create a new drainage channel for fluid, helping to lower eye pressure in people with glaucoma. It's placed through a very small opening without a large incision, and unlike some other minimally invasive glaucoma implants, it's often positioned to drain fluid to just beneath the surface tissue of the eye rather than into a deeper internal space. It's typically used for glaucoma that hasn't been well controlled with eye drops alone.

Rates data updated July 2026.

How much does Glaucoma Drainage Gel Implant Placement cost?

$794

Typical negotiated rate. In North Carolina, July 2026.

Insurers have agreed to pay about $794 for this service. The price depends on where it is billed: about $776 from a physician practice, and about $1,660 from a hospital or other facility. The two figures are alternatives, not parts of one bill.

These are rates insurers have negotiated with providers, not the amount a patient is billed. What you owe depends on your plan's deductible and coinsurance. Based on rates published by 5 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

Where it's billed changes the price

Billed byTypicalRange
Physician practiceA doctor's office, clinic or independent provider$776$741 to $1,288
FacilityA hospital or hospital-owned outpatient department$1,660$851 to $8,318

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $1,660 · 10th to 90th $741 to $11,749Professionalmedian $776 · 10th to 90th $646 to $1,905
$500$1K$2K$5K$10K$20Kfacility $1,660professional $776

Distribution of negotiated rates across all payers (price axis is log-scale). Each curve is scaled to its own total: facility and professional rates are different services, shown together to compare where they cluster. Need provider-level prices or 24+ months of history? Contact us.

Rates by insurance carrier

Insurance Carrier
Aetna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$741.31
Median
$2,818.38
Typical High
$8,709.64
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$537.03
Median
$741.31
Typical High
$851.14
BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$912.01
Median
$1,513.56
Typical High
$2,290.87
Medcost
Setting
Facility
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$707.95
Median
$812.83
Typical High
$1,071.52
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$6,025.60
Median
$10,964.78
Typical High
$23,988.33
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$645.65
Median
$851.14
Typical High
$1,584.89
Wellcare
Setting
Facility
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$22,908.68
Median
$22,908.68
Typical High
$22,908.68
Wellcare
Setting
Professional
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$5,623.41
Median
$6,760.83
Typical High
$6,760.83

Where North Carolina sits

The same service costs 7.2 times more in California than in North Dakota. Every bar is a state, most expensive first. Touch or drag across it to read any state, then open that state for its carriers and full range.

North Carolina· 41st of 51

$794

CA $4,898ND $676

Median negotiated rate in each state, from every insurer that publishes one. States where no insurer publishes a rate for this service are not shown.