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External Frame With Computer-Guided Adjustment

Iowa 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?

$6,505

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $6,505 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $2,239 to the doctor who performs it, and $4,266 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 8 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$2,239$1,738 to $2,630
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$4,266$2,344 to $23,442

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $4,266 · 10th to 90th $1,318 to $41,687Professionalmedian $2,239 · 10th to 90th $1,202 to $3,236
$100$1K$10Kfacility $4,266professional $2,239

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
$1,819.70
Median
$4,265.80
Typical High
$7,244.36
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,096.48
Median
$1,819.70
Typical High
$2,818.38
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$2,344.23
Median
$25,703.96
Typical High
$38,018.94
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$2,238.72
Median
$2,630.27
Typical High
$3,235.94
Hally Health
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,071.52
Median
$1,380.38
Typical High
$3,090.30
Medica
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,258.93
Median
$3,235.94
Typical High
$38,018.94
Medica
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,288.25
Median
$2,570.40
Typical High
$8,709.64
Midlands
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$2,238.72
Median
$2,630.27
Typical High
$3,090.30
Midlands
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$2,344.23
Median
$25,703.96
Typical High
$38,018.94
Midlands
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$2,137.96
Median
$2,570.40
Typical High
$4,168.69
Oscar Health
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,096.48
Median
$1,995.26
Typical High
$2,511.89
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,380.38
Median
$4,365.16
Typical High
$70,794.58
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,174.90
Median
$1,819.70
Typical High
$3,235.94
Wellmark
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$2,238.72
Median
$2,238.72
Typical High
$2,630.27
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
$794.33
Median
$1,380.38
Typical High
$1,380.38
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
78 · Unplanned return to OR
Typical Low
$741.31
Median
$1,288.25
Typical High
$1,288.25

Where Iowa 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

Iowa· 22nd of 51

$6,505

$2,239 physician + $4,266 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.