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Voice Box Exam With Stretching Of A Narrowing

Alabama rates for HCPCS 31528

A scope is passed through the mouth into the voice box so the surgeon can look at it directly and widen a narrowed part of the airway, stretching it with a dilator or a balloon. It relieves noisy or difficult breathing and a weak voice caused by scarring or narrowing. This covers the first such stretching; repeat sessions are billed separately.

Rates data updated October 2026.

How much does Voice Box Exam With Stretching Of A Narrowing cost?

$2,984

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $2,984 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $166 to the doctor who performs it, and $2,818 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 5 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$166$151 to $240
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$2,818$1,738 to $2,818

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $2,818 · 10th to 90th $871 to $3,162Professionalmedian $166 · 10th to 90th $132 to $240
$100$200$500$1K$2K$5Kfacility $2,818professional $166

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
$645.65
Median
$1,230.27
Typical High
$2,398.83
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$239.88
Median
$239.88
Typical High
$239.88
Ambetter
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$158.49
Median
$158.49
Typical High
$158.49
BCBS Alabama
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$2,818.38
Median
$2,818.38
Typical High
$2,818.38
BCBS Alabama
Setting
Professional
Modifier
32 · Mandated service
Typical Low
$141.25
Median
$194.98
Typical High
$245.47
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$489.78
Median
$1,621.81
Typical High
$1,995.26
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$141.25
Median
$165.96
Typical High
$223.87
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$758.58
Median
$1,737.80
Typical High
$4,265.80
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$109.65
Median
$141.25
Typical High
$218.78
5 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
52 · Reduced service
Typical Low
$120.23
Median
$120.23
Typical High
$120.23
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$47.86
Median
$47.86
Typical High
$47.86
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$181.97
Median
$181.97
Typical High
$181.97
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$36.31
Median
$36.31
Typical High
$36.31
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$23.99
Median
$23.99
Typical High
$23.99

Where Alabama sits

The same service costs 14.3 times more in Colorado than in Montana. 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· 14th of 51

$2,984

$166 physician + $2,818 facility

CO $6,102MT $428

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.