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External Frame With Computer-Guided Adjustment

Colorado 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?

$20,243

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $20,243 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $1,622 to the doctor who performs it, and $18,621 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 7 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$1,622$1,318 to $2,138
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$18,621$3,890 to $25,119

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $18,621 · 10th to 90th $2,089 to $38,019Professionalmedian $1,622 · 10th to 90th $1,175 to $2,630
$1K$2K$5K$10K$20K$50K$100Kfacility $18,621professional $1,622

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
$1,778.28
Median
$5,248.07
Typical High
$10,964.78
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,174.90
Median
$1,174.90
Typical High
$1,659.59
Anthem BCBS
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$15,848.93
Median
$20,892.96
Typical High
$50,118.72
Anthem BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,318.26
Median
$1,905.46
Typical High
$2,818.38
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,778.28
Median
$19,054.61
Typical High
$33,884.42
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,096.48
Median
$1,445.44
Typical High
$2,089.30
Denver HMP
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,174.90
Median
$1,479.11
Typical High
$2,454.71
Kaiser Permanente
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,071.52
Median
$1,412.54
Typical High
$2,137.96
Select Health
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,071.52
Median
$2,137.96
Typical High
$29,512.09
Select Health
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,071.52
Median
$1,202.26
Typical High
$1,621.81
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,479.11
Median
$3,548.13
Typical High
$11,220.18
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,122.02
Median
$1,548.82
Typical High
$2,398.83
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
$870.96
Median
$870.96
Typical High
$891.25
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
78 · Unplanned return to OR
Typical Low
$812.83
Median
$812.83
Typical High
$831.76

Where Colorado 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

Colorado· 3rd of 51

$20,243

$1,622 physician + $18,621 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.