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External Frame With Computer-Guided Adjustment

Alabama rates for HCPCS 20696

An external frame is attached to a limb by pins and wires passed through the bone in more than one direction, holding the bone from outside the skin. A computer program then works out a schedule of small daily adjustments to the frame, gradually moving the bone into the correct position over the following weeks. Imaging and the follow-up adjustment calculations are included.

Rates data updated October 2026.

How much does External Frame With Computer-Guided Adjustment cost?

$4,880

Typical total for the visit. In Alabama, October 2026.

Insurers have agreed to pay about $4,880 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $1,413 to the doctor who performs it, and $3,467 to the hospital or surgery center where it takes place. Done somewhere without a facility charge, you pay only the first.

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 4 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$1,413$1,202 to $1,778
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$3,467$2,570 to $3,548

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $3,467 · 10th to 90th $1,230 to $4,898Professionalmedian $1,413 · 10th to 90th $977 to $1,862
$1K$2K$5K$10K$20Kfacility $3,467professional $1,413

Distribution of negotiated rates across all payers (price axis is log-scale). Need provider-level prices or 24+ months of history? Contact us.

Rates by insurance carrier

Insurance Carrier
Aetna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$776.25
Median
$1,258.93
Typical High
$2,398.83
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,862.09
Median
$1,862.09
Typical High
$1,862.09
BCBS Alabama
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$3,467.37
Median
$3,548.13
Typical High
$3,548.13
BCBS Alabama
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$977.24
Median
$1,348.96
Typical High
$1,698.24
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,348.96
Median
$16,982.44
Typical High
$21,379.62
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,202.26
Median
$1,412.54
Typical High
$1,548.82
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,096.48
Median
$2,344.23
Typical High
$5,248.07
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$933.25
Median
$1,122.02
Typical High
$1,819.70
2 more rates with less common billing modifiers

A modifier changes what was billed, for example a reduced or repeated service. Each of these modifiers carries under 10% of the published rates for this code. Modifier combinations, and modifiers with fewer than 30 rates for a carrier, are not listed.

Insurance Carrier
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$1,412.54
Median
$1,412.54
Typical High
$1,412.54
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
78 · Unplanned return to OR
Typical Low
$1,318.26
Median
$1,318.26
Typical High
$1,318.26

Where Alabama sits

The same service costs 8.5 times more in Wyoming than in Kentucky. 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.

Physician feeFacility fee

Alabama· 34th of 51

$4,880

$1,413 physician + $3,467 facility

WY $22,644KY $2,656

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.