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Transplanting Cartilage Plugs Into The Knee

Alabama rates for HCPCS 27416

Takes small cylinders of cartilage with the bone beneath them from a part of the knee that carries little weight, and presses them into a damaged area of the joint surface through an open incision. The transplanted plugs restore a smooth surface where cartilage has been lost. The tissue comes from the patient's own knee, so there is no risk of rejection.

Rates data updated July 2026.

How much does Transplanting Cartilage Plugs Into The Knee cost?

$1,380

Typical negotiated rate. In Alabama, July 2026.

Insurers have agreed to pay about $1,380 for this service. The price depends on where it is billed: about $1,000 from a physician practice, and about $5,012 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 4 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$1,000$832 to $1,585
FacilityA hospital or hospital-owned outpatient department$5,012$1,862 to $10,715

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $5,012 · 10th to 90th $1,096 to $13,183Professionalmedian $1,000 · 10th to 90th $794 to $1,905
$1K$2K$5K$10K$20Kfacility $5,012professional $1,000

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
$794.33
Median
$1,258.93
Typical High
$2,398.83
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$812.83
Median
$1,000.00
Typical High
$1,905.46
BCBS
Setting
Facility
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$9,549.93
Median
$11,481.54
Typical High
$15,488.17
BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$1,348.96
Median
$1,621.81
Typical High
$2,344.23
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$707.95
Median
$1,148.15
Typical High
$1,995.26
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$1,479.11
Median
$4,168.69
Typical High
$7,413.10
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$741.31
Median
$977.24
Typical High
$1,659.59

Where Alabama sits

The same service costs 8.7 times more in California 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.

Alabama· 28th of 51

$1,380

CA $8,318KY $955

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.