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External Frame With Computer-Guided Adjustment

Illinois 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?

$7,515

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $7,515 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $1,349 to the doctor who performs it, and $6,166 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$1,349$1,175 to $1,820
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$6,166$2,344 to $31,623

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $6,166 · 10th to 90th $1,230 to $38,905Professionalmedian $1,349 · 10th to 90th $1,072 to $2,188
$100$1K$10Kfacility $6,166professional $1,349

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
$831.76
Median
$2,137.96
Typical High
$7,762.47
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,071.52
Median
$1,174.90
Typical High
$1,737.80
Ambetter
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,047.13
Median
$1,047.13
Typical High
$1,047.13
BCBS Illinois
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$16,595.87
Median
$33,113.11
Typical High
$41,686.94
BCBS Illinois
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,348.96
Median
$1,819.70
Typical High
$2,187.76
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,548.82
Median
$31,622.78
Typical High
$40,738.03
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,174.90
Median
$1,230.27
Typical High
$1,995.26
Hally Health
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,258.93
Median
$1,905.46
Typical High
$4,168.69
Hally Health
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$100.00
Median
$100.00
Typical High
$100.00
Hally Health
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,380.38
Median
$1,479.11
Typical High
$1,621.81
Molina
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$33.11
Median
$125.89
Typical High
$1,318.26
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,174.90
Median
$3,090.30
Typical High
$9,772.37
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,047.13
Median
$1,288.25
Typical High
$2,290.87
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
$812.83
Median
$891.25
Typical High
$891.25
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
78 · Unplanned return to OR
Typical Low
$758.58
Median
$831.76
Typical High
$831.76

Where Illinois 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

Illinois· 15th of 51

$7,515

$1,349 physician + $6,166 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.